AUTHOR=Mosca Claudia , Rothschild Lynn J. , Napoli Alessandro , Ferré Fabrizio , Pietrosanto Marco , Fagliarone Claudia , Baqué Mickael , Rabbow Elke , Rettberg Petra , Billi Daniela TITLE=Over-Expression of UV-Damage DNA Repair Genes and Ribonucleic Acid Persistence Contribute to the Resilience of Dried Biofilms of the Desert Cyanobacetrium Chroococcidiopsis Exposed to Mars-Like UV Flux and Long-Term Desiccation JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology VOLUME=10 YEAR=2019 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2019.02312 DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2019.02312 ISSN=1664-302X ABSTRACT=

The survival limits of the desert cyanobacterium Chroococcidiopsis were challenged by rewetting dried biofilms and dried biofilms exposed to 1.5 × 103 kJ/m2 of a Mars-like UV, after 7 years of air-dried storage. PCR-stop assays revealed the presence of DNA lesions in dried biofilms and an increased accumulation in dried-UV-irradiated biofilms. Different types and/or amounts of DNA lesions were highlighted by a different expression of uvrA, uvrB, uvrC, phrA, and uvsE genes in dried-rewetted biofilms and dried-UV-irradiated-rewetted biofilms, after rehydration for 30 and 60 min. The up-regulation in dried-rewetted biofilms of uvsE gene encoding an UV damage endonuclease, suggested that UV-damage DNA repair contributed to the repair of desiccation-induced damage. While the phrA gene encoding a photolyase was up-regulated only in dried-UV-irradiated-rewetted biofilms. Nucleotide excision repair genes were over-expressed in dried-rewetted biofilms and dried-UV-irradiated-rewetted biofilms, with uvrC gene showing the highest increase in dried-UV-irradiated-rewetted biofilms. Dried biofilms preserved intact mRNAs (at least of the investigated genes) and 16S ribosomal RNA that the persistence of the ribosome machinery and mRNAs might have played a key role in the early phase recovery. Results have implications for the search of extra-terrestrial life by contributing to the definition of habitability of astrobiologically relevant targets such as Mars or planets orbiting around other stars.