PLANT HOMOLOG OF HUMAN EXCISION-REPAIR GENE ERCC1 POINTS TO CONSERVATION OF DNA-REPAIR MECHANISMS

Nucleotide excision repair (NER), a highly versatile DNA repair mechan ism, is capable of removing various types of DNA damage including thos e induced by UV radiation and chemical mutagens. NER has been well cha racterized in yeast and mammalian systems but its presence in plants h as not been reported. Here it is reported that a plant gene isolated f rom male germline cells of lily (Lilium longiflorum) shows a striking amino acid sequence similarity to the DNA excision repair proteins hum an ERCC1 and yeast RAD10. Homologous genes are also shown to be presen t in a number of taxonomically diverse plant genera tested, suggesting that this gene may have a conserved function in plants. The protein e ncoded by this gene is able to correct significantly the sensitivity t o the crosslinking agent mitomycin C in ERCC1-deficient Chinese hamste r ovary (CHO) cells. These findings suggest that the NER mechanism is conserved in yeast, animals and higher plants.