Huizhi Lu, Zijing Chen, Teng Xie, Shitong Zhong, Shasha Suo, Shuang Song, Liangyan Wang, Hong Xu, Bing Tian, Ye Zhao, Ruhong Zhou, Yuejin Hua
Bacteria have evolved various response systems to adapt to environmental stress. A protease-based derepression mechanism in response to DNA damage was characterized in Deinococcus, which is controlled by the specific cleavage of repressor DdrO by metallopeptidase PprI (also called IrrE). Despite the efforts to document the biochemical, physiological, and downstream regulation of PprI-DdrO, the upstream regulatory signal activating this system remains unclear. Here, we show that single-stranded DNA physically interacts with PprI protease, which enhances the PprI-DdrO interactions as well as the DdrO cleavage in a length-dependent manner both in vivo and in vitro...
February 29, 2024: Nature Communications