Hyperthermophilic archaea cope with harsh conditions such as high temperatures, high pressures, pH shifts and ionising radiations. Such environments favour the apparition of DNA lesions like apurinic (AP) sites or oxidized DNA bases (8-oxo-dG and 8-oxo-dA). Here, Pyrococcus abyssi (Pab) was used as an attractive model to analyse the impact of such lesions onto the maintenance of genome integrity. The first part aimed at detecting DNA damages in the genome of Pab: -Endogenous AP sites and the oxidized DNA base 8-oxo-dG persist at a slightly higher level in Pab genome compared with Escherichia coli. -Under oxydative stress conditions performed in a gas-lift bioreactor for the first time, the 8-oxo-dG increasing rate is correlated to the important cell... |