The absence of the RecN protein suppresses the cellular defects of Deinococcus radiodurans irradiated cells devoid of the PprA protein by limiting recombinational repair of DNA lesions.

The Deinococcus radiodurans bacterium is one of the most radioresistant organisms known. It can repair hundreds of radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks without loss of viability and reconstitute an intact genome through RecA-dependent and RecA-independent DNA repair pathways. Among the Deinococcus specific proteins required for radioresistance, the PprA protein was shown to play a major role for accurate chromosome segregation and cell division after completion of DNA repair. Here, we analyzed the cellular role of the deinococcal RecN protein belonging to the SMC family and, surprisingly, observed that the absence of the RecN protein suppressed the sensitivity of cells devoid of the PprA protein to γ- and UV-irradiation and to treatment with MMC or DNA gyrase inhibitors. This suppression was not observed when ΔpprA cells were devoid of SMC or SbcC, two other proteins belonging to the SMC family. The absence of RecN also alleviated the DNA segregation defects displayed by ΔpprA cells recovering from γ-irradiation. When exposed to 5 kGy γ-irradiation, ΔpprA, ΔrecN and ΔpprA ΔrecN cells repaired their DNA with a delay of about one hour, as compared to the wild type cells. After irradiation, the absence of RecN reduced recombination between chromosomal and plasmid DNA, indicating that the deinococcal RecN protein is important for recombinational repair of DNA lesions. The transformation efficiency of genomic DNA was also reduced in the absence of the RecN protein. Here, we propose a model in which RecN, via its cohesin activity, might favor recombinational repair of DNA double strand breaks. This might increase, in irradiated cells, DNA constraints with PprA protein being required to resolve them via its ability to recruit DNA gyrase and to stimulate its decatenation activity.

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