Assessment of DNA Damage Response Genes Under Different Environmental Conditions

• Grant number: 21/01398-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: April 01, 2022
• End date: July 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Mutagenesis
• Principal Investigator: Carlos Frederico Martins Menck
• Grantee: Rayana dos Santos Feltrin
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 19/19435-3 - The role of DNA damage and mitochondrial function in vascular, immune and neurological ageing (DNA MoVINg), AP.TEM

Abstract

The genetic material is under constant aggression, with various agents that damage the DNA molecule, including ultraviolet (UV) from sunlight. Other environmental conditions can also challenge the maintenance of DNA stability, but genomes have several DNA damage response pathways to ensure their integrity. Moreover, the consequences of the exposure to solar radiation on organisms are even more critical when we consider the stratospheric ozone layer depletion, mainly in high latitudes such as Antarctica. Despite the low light incidence, the sunlight-induced DNA damage profile in this continent is comparable to the tropical regions. In addition, the Antarctic continent still keeps several extreme environmental conditions and specific isolation from the effects of human society. Therefore, in this project, we intend to explore mechanisms that microorganisms have to survive to extreme conditions from different environments of that continent. We aim to focus our work on the evaluation of genes related to the repair of damaged DNA through two very related strategies: assess metagenomes from different soil samples collected in Antarctica, as well as analyze genomes of bacterial isolates obtained from the depths of the Antarctic Ocean that grow in culture conditions under high levels of CO2. We thereby intend to estimate the distribution of DNA repair genes in microorganisms from different extreme environments of Antarctica and understand the DNA damage response mechanisms involved in life maintenance in extreme environments of that continent.