Oxidative Stress Resistance in Deinococcus radiodurans
Open accessAbstract
SUMMARY: Deinococcus radiodurans is a robust bacterium best known for its capacity to repair massive DNA damage efficiently and accurately. It is extremely resistant to many DNA-damaging agents, including ionizing radiation and UV radiation (100 to 295 nm), desiccation, and mitomycin C, which induce oxidative damage not only to DNA but also to all cellular macromolecules via the production of reactive oxygen species. The extreme resilience of D. radiodurans to oxidative stress is imparted synergistically by an efficient protection of proteins against oxidative stress and an efficient DNA repair mechanism, enhanced by functional redundancies in both systems.D. radiodurans assets for the prevention of and recovery from oxidative stress are extensively reviewed here. Radiation- and desiccation-resistant bacteria such as D. radiodurans have substantially lower protein oxidation levels than do sensitive bacteria but have similar yields of DNA double-strand breaks. These findings challenge the concept of DNA as the primary target of radiation toxicity while advancing protein damage, and the protection of proteins against oxidative damage, as a new paradigm of radiation toxicity and survival. The protection of DNA repair and other proteins against oxidative damage is imparted by enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidant defense systems dominated by divalent manganese complexes. Given that oxidative stress caused by the accumulation of reactive oxygen species is associated with aging and cancer, a comprehensive outlook on D. radiodurans strategies of combating oxidative stress may open new avenues for antiaging and anticancer treatments. The study of the antioxidation protection in D. radiodurans is therefore of considerable potential interest for medicine and public health.
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Manganese accumulates bound to inorganic phosphate and phosphorylated metabolites, small peptides, and nucleosides.
“Manganese accumulates bound to inorganic phosphate and phosphorylated metabolites (e.g., fructose-bisphosphate), small peptides, and nucleosides.106,116”
From Metals in Motion: Understanding Labile Metal Pools in Bacteria (2025) · cites this paper as [116]
The 'Antioxidation Protection in D. radiodurans' section says that most manganese in the bacterium forms small complexes with orthophosphate and peptides, and that nucleosides also form complexes with manganese and orthophosphate. The passages do not establish manganese binding to phosphorylated metabolites such as fructose-bisphosphate. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.87)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredD. radiodurans has a high manganese quota (up to 4 mM) and an exceptionally high Mn/Fe ratio (0.24).
“This bacterium, notable for its exceptionally high resistance to ionizing radiation, has a high manganese quota (up to 4 mM) and an exceptionally high Mn/Fe ratio (0.24).116”
From Metals in Motion: Understanding Labile Metal Pools in Bacteria (2025) · cites this paper as [116]
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- Authors
- Slade, D., & Radman, M.
- Affiliations
- Inserm (FR)
- Corresponding author
- Slade, Dea
- Venue
- Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews
- Publisher
- American Society for Microbiology
- Published
- 2011-03
- Volume
- 75
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 133-191
- ISSN
- 1092-2172 (ISSN-L)
- 1098-5557
- PMC
- PMC3063356
- OpenAlex
- W2005447726
- Cited by
- 761
- References
- 20
- Citations by year
- 2026: 51 · 2025: 50 · 2024: 49 · 2023: 56 · 2022: 51 · 2021: 80 · 2020: 59 · 2019: 54 · 2018: 44 · 2017: 49 · 2016: 41 · 2015: 50 · 2014: 47 · 2013: 39 · 2012: 26
- FWCI
- 3.69
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds
- AXA Research Fund
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Redox biology and oxidative stress
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Effects of Radiation Exposure
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology
- Keywords
- Deinococcus radiodurans, oxidative stress resistance, protein oxidation, DNA repair, reactive oxygen species, antioxidant defense, manganese complexes, radioresistance (biology), desiccation resistance, UV resistance, mitomycin C, DNA double-strand breaks, radiation toxicity, functional redundancy, anti-aging, anticancer
- MeSH terms
- Bacterial Proteins, DNA Damage, DNA Repair, Radiation Tolerance, Reactive Oxygen Species, Oxidative Stress, Deinococcus
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