[SCAN] Resistance to radiation, the molecular mechanisms and its applications

Title: Resistance to radiation, the molecular mechanisms and its applications

Speaker: Célia Romão

Affiliation: Structural Genomics - M. A. Carrondo Lab

In our everyday life we are constantly exposed to radiation, from natural sources and man-made radiation. This exposure induce damage to cells, which may have a deleterious effect in the life of organisms. Surprisingly there are organisms, across the three life domains, able to resist to high doses of radiation. Still, the Guinness World Record on the most radiation-resistant lifeform so far identified, is for the bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans. It was originally named ‘Conan, the Bacterium’ due to its resistance to different types of radiation, but also to other extreme conditions, such as desiccation or hydrogen peroxide. Nevertheless, the complex interconnected systems that make this organism so resistant to these extreme conditions still remains unclear.

My aim has been to unveiling the molecular mechanisms trigger upon stress addition on this model organism, D. radiodurans. Thus, I will present our results focusing on our recent data in which we established a connection between the metal distribution, such Mn, Pi and Ca detected by X-ray fluorescence nano-imaging and the response to stress.

These results contribute to the knowledge on how organisms can sustain high doses of radiation, opening new opportunities for future applications.