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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2006, p. 6600-6606, Vol. 72, No. 10
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01272-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Photolyase Confers Resistance to UV Light but Does Not Contribute to the Symbiotic Benefit of Bioluminescence in Vibrio fischeri ES114{triangledown}

Emma L. Walker, Jeffrey L. Bose, and Eric V. Stabb*

Department of Microbiology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602

Received 2 June 2006/ Accepted 7 August 2006

Recent reports suggest that the selective advantage of bioluminescence for bacteria is mediated by light-dependent stimulation of photolyase to repair DNA lesions. Despite evidence for this model, photolyase mutants have not been characterized in a naturally bioluminescent bacterium, nor has this hypothesis been tested in bioluminescent bacteria under natural conditions. We have now characterized the photolyase encoded by phr in the bioluminescent bacterium Vibrio fischeri ES114. Consistent with Phr possessing photolyase activity, phr conferred light-dependent resistance to UV light. However, upon comparing ES114 to a phr mutant and a dark {Delta}luxCDABEG mutant, we found that bioluminescence did not detectably affect photolyase-mediated resistance to UV light. Addition of the light-stimulating autoinducer N-3-oxo-hexanoyl homoserine lactone appeared to increase UV resistance, but this was independent of photolyase or bioluminescence. Moreover, although bioluminescence confers an advantage for V. fischeri during colonization of its natural host, Euprymna scolopes, the phr mutant colonized this host to the same level as the wild type. Taken together, our results indicate that at least in V. fischeri strain ES114, the benefits of bioluminescence during symbiotic colonization are not mediated by photolyase, and although some UV resistance mechanism may be coregulated with bioluminescence, we found no evidence that light production benefits cells by stimulating photolyase in this strain.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: University of Georgia, Department of Microbiology, 828 Biological Sciences, Athens, GA 30602. Phone: (706) 542-2414. Fax: (706) 542-2674. E-mail: estabb{at}uga.edu.

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 21 August 2006.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2006, p. 6600-6606, Vol. 72, No. 10
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01272-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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