Ionizing radiation induces DNA damage and oxidative stress; however, the genes and molecular mechanisms involved in bacterial stress responses have not been sufficiently identified. In this study, we used Limnobacter thiooxidans strain CS-K2, which is the closest relative to the bacteria detected in torus room water at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant according to 16S rRNA gene sequences, and evaluated its response to {gamma}-ray irradiation using integrated transcriptomic and proteomic analyses. We identified three previously uncharacterized genes (LT3105, LT3115, and LT3126) that were strongly induced at the mRNA and protein levels. These genes exhibited low basal expression but were markedly upregulated by {gamma}-ray irradiation. Notably, LT3126 encodes a protein containing VIT (vault protein inter--trypsin) and VWA (von Willebrand factor type A) domains and showed the strongest induction. Overexpression of LT3126 increased survival after 500 Gy irradiation by approximately 200-fold compared with the control bacteria, demonstrating a direct contribution to survival under high-dose stress. Comparative genomic analysis showed that these genes are not widely conserved across bacteria but are unevenly distributed among specific lineages. Taken together, this study identified a novel set of {gamma}-ray-responsive genes and demonstrated a functional role for LT3126 in radiation resistance, providing new insights into molecular adaptation in radiation-associated environments.
Warashina, T., Sato, A., Dotsuta, Y., Kitagaki, T., Masuda, T., Ikeda, H., Kataoka, M., Morita, T., Kanai, A.
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