Extremotolerant tardigrade genome and improved radiotolerance of human cultured cells by tardigrade-unique protein

Takuma Hashimoto, Daiki D. Horikawa, Yuki Saito, Hirokazu Kuwahara, Hiroko Kozuka-Hata, Tadasu Shin-I, Yohei Minakuchi, Kazuko Ohishi, Ayuko Motoyama, Tomoyuki Aizu, Atsushi Enomoto, Koyuki Kondo, Sae Tanaka, Yuichiro Hara, Shigeyuki Koshikawa, Hiroshi Sagara, Toru Miura, Shin-ichi Yokobori, Kiyoshi Miyagawa, Yutaka Suzuki, Takeo Kubo, Masaaki Oyama, Yuji Kohara, Asao Fujiyama, Kazuharu Arakawa, Toshiaki Katayama, Atsushi Toyoda () and Takekazu Kunieda ()
Additional contact information
Takuma Hashimoto: Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo
Daiki D. Horikawa: Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo
Yuki Saito: Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo
Hirokazu Kuwahara: Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo
Hiroko Kozuka-Hata: Medical Proteomics Laboratory, Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo
Tadasu Shin-I: Genome Biology Laboratory, National Institute of Genetics
Yohei Minakuchi: Comparative Genomics Laboratory, National Institute of Genetics
Kazuko Ohishi: Genome Biology Laboratory, National Institute of Genetics
Ayuko Motoyama: Comparative Genomics Laboratory, National Institute of Genetics
Tomoyuki Aizu: Comparative Genomics Laboratory, National Institute of Genetics
Atsushi Enomoto: Laboratory of Molecular Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo
Koyuki Kondo: Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo
Sae Tanaka: Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo
Yuichiro Hara: Phyloinformatics Unit, RIKEN Center for Life Science Technologies
Shigeyuki Koshikawa: Laboratory of Ecological Genetics, Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University
Hiroshi Sagara: Medical Proteomics Laboratory, Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo
Toru Miura: Laboratory of Ecological Genetics, Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University
Shin-ichi Yokobori: Laboratory of Extremophiles, School of Life Sciences, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences
Kiyoshi Miyagawa: Laboratory of Molecular Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo
Yutaka Suzuki: Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo
Takeo Kubo: Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo
Masaaki Oyama: Medical Proteomics Laboratory, Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo
Yuji Kohara: Genome Biology Laboratory, National Institute of Genetics
Asao Fujiyama: Comparative Genomics Laboratory, National Institute of Genetics
Kazuharu Arakawa: Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University
Toshiaki Katayama: Database Center for Life Science
Atsushi Toyoda: Comparative Genomics Laboratory, National Institute of Genetics
Takekazu Kunieda: Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo

Nature Communications, 2016, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Abstract Tardigrades, also known as water bears, are small aquatic animals. Some tardigrade species tolerate almost complete dehydration and exhibit extraordinary tolerance to various physical extremes in the dehydrated state. Here we determine a high-quality genome sequence of Ramazzottius varieornatus, one of the most stress-tolerant tardigrade species. Precise gene repertoire analyses reveal the presence of a small proportion (1.2% or less) of putative foreign genes, loss of gene pathways that promote stress damage, expansion of gene families related to ameliorating damage, and evolution and high expression of novel tardigrade-unique proteins. Minor changes in the gene expression profiles during dehydration and rehydration suggest constitutive expression of tolerance-related genes. Using human cultured cells, we demonstrate that a tardigrade-unique DNA-associating protein suppresses X-ray-induced DNA damage by ∼40% and improves radiotolerance. These findings indicate the relevance of tardigrade-unique proteins to tolerability and tardigrades could be a bountiful source of new protection genes and mechanisms.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12808

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