Background: The recD mutants of the Antarctic Pseudomonas syringae Lz4W are sensitive to DNA-damaging agents and fail to grow at 4 degrees C. Generally, RecD associates with two other proteins (RecB and RecC) to produce RecBCD enzyme, which is involved in homologous recombination and DNA repair in many bacteria, including Escherichia coli. However, RecD is not essential for DNA repair, nor does its deletion cause any growth defects in E. coli. Hence, the assessment of the P. syringae RecBCD pathway was imperative.
Methodology/principal findings: Mutational analysis and genetic complementation studies were used to establish that the individual null-mutations of all three genes, recC, recB, and recD, or the deletion of whole recCBD operon of P. syringae, lead to growth inhibition at low temperature, and sensitivity to UV and mitomycin C. Viability of the mutant cells dropped drastically at 4 degrees C, and the mutants accumulated linear chromosomal DNA and shorter DNA fragments in higher amounts compared to 22 degrees C. Additional genetic data using the mutant RecBCD enzymes that were inactivated either in the ATPase active site of RecB (RecB(K29Q)) or RecD (RecD(K229Q)), or in the nuclease center of RecB (RecB(D1118A) and RecB(Delta nuc)) suggested that, while the nuclease activity of RecB is not so critical in vivo, the ATP-dependent functions of both RecB and RecD are essential. Surprisingly, E. coli recBCD or recBC alone on plasmid could complement the defects of the Delta recCBD strain of P. syringae.
Conclusions/significance: All three subunits of the RecBCD(Ps) enzyme are essential for DNA repair and growth of P. syringae at low temperatures (4 degrees C). The RecD requirement is only a function of the RecBCD complex in the bacterium. The RecBCD pathway protects the Antarctic bacterium from cold-induced DNA damages, and is critically dependent on the helicase activities of both RecB and RecD subunits, but not on the nuclease of RecBCD(Ps) enzyme.