%0 Journal Article %A Desai, Shruti S. %A Rajpurohit, Yogendra S. %A Misra, Hari S. %A Deobagkar, Dileep N. %T Characterization of the role of the RadS/RadR two-component system in the radiation resistance of Deinococcus radiodurans %D 2011 %J Microbiology, %V 157 %N 10 %P 2974-2982 %@ 1465-2080 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.049361-0 %I Microbiology Society, %X Deinococcus radiodurans shows extraordinary tolerance to DNA damage, and exhibits differential gene expression and protein recycling. A putative response regulator, the DRB0091 (RadR) ORF, was identified from a pool of DNA-binding proteins induced in response to gamma radiation in this bacterium. radR is located upstream of drB0090, which encodes a putative sensor histidine kinase (RadS) on the megaplasmid. Deletion of these genes both individually and together resulted in hypersensitivity to DNA-damaging agents and a delayed or altered double-strand break repair. A ΔradRradS double mutant and a ΔradR single mutant showed nearly identical responses to gamma radiation and UVC. Wild-type RadR and RadS complemented the corresponding mutant strains, but also exhibited significant cross-complementation, albeit at lower doses of gamma radiation. The radS transcript was not detected in the ΔradR mutant, suggesting the existence of a radRS operon. Recombinant RadS was autophosphorylated and could catalyse the transfer of γ phosphate from ATP to RadR in vitro. These results indicated the functional interaction of RadS and RadR, and suggested a role for the RadS/RadR two-component system in the radiation resistance of this bacterium. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.049361-0