Deficiency of double-strand DNA break repair does not impair Mycobacterium tuberculosis virulence in multiple animal models of infection.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis persistence within its human host requires mechanisms to resist the effector molecules of host immunity, which exert their bactericidal effects through damaging pathogen proteins, membranes, and DNA. Substantial evidence indicates that bacterial pathogens, including M. tuberculosis, require DNA repair systems to repair the DNA damage inflicted by the host during infection, but the role of double-strand DNA break (DSB) repair systems is unclear. Double-strand DNA breaks are the most cytotoxic form of DNA damage and must be repaired for chromosome replication to proceed. M. tuberculosis elaborates three genetically distinct DSB repair systems: homologous recombination (HR), nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ), and single-strand annealing (SSA). NHEJ, which repairs DSBs in quiescent cells, may be particularly relevant to M. tuberculosis latency. However, very little information is available about the phenotype of DSB repair-deficient M. tuberculosis in animal models of infection. Here we tested M. tuberculosis strains lacking NHEJ (a Δku ΔligD strain), HR (a ΔrecA strain), or both (a ΔrecA Δku strain) in C57BL/6J mice, C3HeB/FeJ mice, guinea pigs, and a mouse hollow-fiber model of infection. We found no difference in bacterial load, histopathology, or host mortality between wild-type and DSB repair mutant strains in any model of infection. These results suggest that the animal models tested do not inflict DSBs on the mycobacterial chromosome, that other repair pathways can compensate for the loss of NHEJ and HR, or that DSB repair is not required for M. tuberculosis pathogenesis.

Mycobacterial nonhomologous end joining mediates mutagenic repair of chromosomal double-strand DNA breaks.

Bacterial nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) is a recently described DNA repair pathway best characterized in mycobacteria. Bacterial NHEJ proteins LigD and Ku have been analyzed biochemically, and their roles in linear plasmid repair in vivo have been verified genetically; yet the contributions of NHEJ to repair of chromosomal DNA damage are unknown. Here we use an extensive set of NHEJ- and homologous recombination (HR)-deficient Mycobacterium smegmatis strains to probe the importance of HR and NHEJ in repairing diverse types of chromosomal DNA damage. An M. smegmatis Delta recA Delta ku double mutant has no apparent growth defect in vitro. Loss of the NHEJ components Ku and LigD had no effect on sensitivity to UV radiation, methyl methanesulfonate, or quinolone antibiotics. NHEJ deficiency had no effect on sensitivity to ionizing radiation in logarithmic- or early-stationary-phase cells but was required for ionizing radiation resistance in late stationary phase in 7H9 but not LB medium. In addition, NHEJ components were required for repair of I-SceI mediated chromosomal double-strand breaks (DSBs), and in the absence of HR, the NHEJ pathway rapidly mutates the chromosomal break site. The molecular outcomes of NHEJ-mediated chromosomal DSB repair involve predominantly single-nucleotide insertions at the break site, similar to previous findings using plasmid substrates. These findings demonstrate that prokaryotic NHEJ is specifically required for DSB repair in late stationary phase and can mediate mutagenic repair of homing endonuclease-generated chromosomal DSBs.

Mechanism of nonhomologous end-joining in mycobacteria: a low-fidelity repair system driven by Ku, ligase D and ligase C.

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) can be repaired either via homologous recombination (HR) or nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ). Both pathways are operative in eukaryotes, but bacteria had been thought to rely on HR alone. Here we provide direct evidence that mycobacteria have a robust NHEJ pathway that requires Ku and a specialized polyfunctional ATP-dependent DNA ligase (LigD). NHEJ of blunt-end and complementary 5'-overhang DSBs is highly mutagenic ( approximately 50% error rate). Analysis of the recombination junctions ensuing from individual NHEJ events highlighted the participation of several DNA end-remodeling activities, including template-dependent fill-in of 5' overhangs, nontemplated addition of single nucleotides at blunt ends, and nucleolytic resection. LigD itself has the template-dependent and template-independent polymerase functions in vitro that compose the molecular signatures of NHEJ in vivo. Another ATP-dependent DNA ligase (LigC) provides a backup mechanism for LigD-independent error-prone repair of blunt-end DSBs. We speculate that NHEJ allows mycobacteria to evade genotoxic host defense.

Biochemical and genetic analysis of the four DNA ligases of mycobacteria.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis encodes an NAD(+)-dependent DNA ligase (LigA) plus three distinct ATP-dependent ligase homologs (LigB, LigC, and LigD). Here we purify and characterize the multiple DNA ligase enzymes of mycobacteria and probe genetically whether the ATP-dependent ligases are required for growth of M. tuberculosis. We find significant differences in the reactivity of mycobacterial ligases with a nicked DNA substrate, whereby LigA and LigB display vigorous nick sealing activity in the presence of NAD(+) and ATP, respectively, whereas LigC and LigD, which have ATP-specific adenylyltransferase activity, display weak nick joining activity and generate high levels of the DNA-adenylate intermediate. All four of the mycobacterial ligases are monomeric enzymes. LigA has a low K(m) for NAD(+) (1 microm) and is sensitive to a recently described pyridochromanone inhibitor of NAD(+)-dependent ligases. LigA is able to sustain growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in lieu of the essential yeast ligase Cdc9, but LigB, LigC, and LigD are not. LigB is distinguished by its relatively high K(m) for ATP (0.34 mm) and its dependence on a distinctive N-terminal domain for nick joining. None of the three ATP-dependent ligases are essential for mycobacterial growth. M. tuberculosis ligDDelta cells are defective in nonhomologous DNA end joining.