Bacterial Response to Increased Exposure to Solar Ultra Violet Light Caused by the Depletion of Stratospheric Ozone

We have demonstrated that the levels of RecA protein in natural marine populations in the Gulf of Mexico varies with exposure to solar UV. We are currently exploring using the RecA protein as a real-time biological sensor for environmental exposure to DNA-damaging agents such as solar UV light. These experiments are quite exciting.  Recently, we have expanded our studies to investigating the effects of ozone depletion in the Antarctic.  Each year, we travel to the Antarctic to collect samples of bacterioplankton from the Southern Ocean.  We measure the levels of RecA protein in these organism during periods when the ozone hole is open and when it is closed.  These samples are then returned to our laboratory where we use specific immunological assays to correlate the levels of DNA damage to the levels of RecA protein.

References:

Lyons, M.  M., P.  Aas, J.  D.  Pakulski, L.  van Waasbergen, R.  V.  Miller, D.  L.  Mitchell, and W.  H.  Jeffrey.  1998.  DNA damage induced by ultraviolet radiation in coral-reef microbial communities.  Marine Biology 130:537-543.

van Waasbergen, Lorraine G., Saranga P.  Kidambi, and Robert V.  Miller.  1998.  Construction of a recA mutant of Burkholderia (formerly Pseudomonas) cepacia.  Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 49:59-65.

Kidambi, Saranga P., Melissa G. Booth, Tyler A. Kokjohn, and Robert V. Miller.  1996.  recA dependence of the response of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to UVA and UVB irradiation.  Microbiology 142:1033-1040.

Kokjohn, Tyler A., and Robert V. Miller.  1994.  IncN plasmids mediate UV resistance and error prone repair in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO.  Microbiology 140:43-48.

Warner-Bartnicki, A. L., and Robert V. Miller.  1992.  Characterization of stress-responsive behavior in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO:  Isolation of Tn3-lacZYA fusions with novel Damage inducible (din) promoters.  Journal of Bacteriology. 174:1862-1868.

Miller, Robert V.  1992. pp. 509-517.  recA.  In S. Luria (ed.), Encyclopedia of Microbiology, Vol. 3.  Academic Press, San Diego, California.

Miller, Robert V., and Tyler A. Kokjohn.  1990. General Microbiology of recA: Environmental and Evolutionary Significance.  Annual Reviews of Microbiology 44:365-394.

Simonson, C. Sue, Tyler A. Kokjohn, and Robert V. Miller.   1990.  Inducible UV  repair potential of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO.  Journal of General Microbiology 136:1241-1249.

Kokjohn, Tyler A., and Robert V. Miller.  1988.  Characterization of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa  PAO recA gene: the Les^- phenotype.  Journal of Bacteriology 170:578-582.

Miller, Robert V., and Tyler A. Kokjohn.  1988.  Expression of the recA gene of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO is inducible by DNA damaging agents.  Journal of Bacteriology 170:2385-2387.

Kokjohn, Tyler A., and Robert V. Miller.  1987.  Characterization of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO recA analog and its protein product: rec-102 is a mutant allele of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO recA gene.  Journal of Bacteriology 169:1499-1508.

Miller, Robert V., and Tyler A. Kokjohn.  1987.  Cloning and characterization of the c1 repressor of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteriophage D3: a functional analog of phage lambda cI protein.  Journal of Bacteriology 169:1948-1852.

Benbrook, Doris M., and Robert V. Miller.  1986.  Effects of norfloxacin on DNA metabolism in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.  Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 29:1-6.

Kokjohn, Tyler A., and Robert V. Miller.  1985.  Molecular cloning and characterization of the recA gene of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.  Journal of Bacteriology 163:568-572.

Mondello, Frank J., and Robert V. Miller.  1984.  Identification of Pseudomonas plasmids able to suppress the lysogeny-establishment-deficiency (Les^-) phenotype.  Plasmid 11:185-187.

Miller, Robert V., and Chao-Min Chang Ku.  1978.  Characterization of Pseudomonas aeruginosa mutants deficient in the establishment of lysogeny.  Journal of Bacteriology 134:875 883.
 

Kolosta--Houston Post

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