Re: [DIYbio] Re: Anyone have a method of synthesizing thermococcus gammatolerans?

D.radiodurans is so radiotolerant because of mechanisms it evolved to resist dessication-induced double-stranded breaks (and deamination/depurination?). So, let's generalise basic radiotolerance to repair of or avoidance of DSBs and specific classes of SN-mutations.

If this bug lives in the *plume* of a thermal vent, it may have to deal with a lot of cavitation from thermal bubbles, which I'm guessing may lead to sonication-indiced DSBs. But, the same mechanisms wouldn't lead to an abnormally high level of SN-mutations. However, heat *does* increase the odds of such mutations, so it may have convergently evolved the same radio-defences as D.radiodurans despite a totally different environment.

All guesses on my part, of course. :)

On 31 January 2016 06:05:00 GMT+00:00, Yuriy <yuriyology@gmail.com> wrote:
oxidation and desiccation stresses? but it lives in thermal vents, produces hydrogen, so I have a feeling it might have that covered. 

the strain sequenced already has CRISPR

On Saturday, January 30, 2016 at 11:21:08 PM UTC-5, GavinScott wrote:
On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 2:38 PM, Dennis Oleksyuk <ma...@dennis-o.com> wrote:
> Now this become curious. How would you test radiation resistance?

Unless thermococcus gammatolerans actually encounters unusually high levels of radiation in its environment (seems unlikely) then as suggested it's probably really just a very good DNA repair mechanism of some sort which it uses to survive some other threat. I think it would be interesting to test its resistance to chemical mutagens and other ways of damaging its DNA which might well give you an effective way of evaluating it without actually using ionizing radiation.

I'd look at papers on DNA repair, because likely many of them will have needed a convenient way of damaging DNA.

I wonder if it would be hard to use CRISPR-derived tools on such a species. It might repair itself as fast as you're trying to cut it with your Cas9 :)

G.



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