Correct transcription is crucial for life. However, DNA damage severely impedes elongating RNA Polymerase II (Pol II), causing transcription inhibition and transcription-replication conflicts. Cells are equipped with intricate mechanisms to counteract the severe consequence of these transcription-blocking lesions (TBLs). However, the exact mechanism and factors involved remain largely unknown. Here, using a genome-wide CRISPR/cas9 screen, we identified elongation factor ELOF1 as an important factor in the transcription stress response upon DNA damage. We show that ELOF1 has an evolutionary conserved role in Transcription-Coupled Nucleotide Excision Repair (TC-NER), where it promotes recruitment of the TC-NER factors UVSSA and TFIIH to efficiently repair TBLs and resume transcription. Additionally, ELOF1 modulates transcription to protect cells from transcription-mediated replication stress, thereby preserving genome stability. Thus, ELOF1 protects the transcription machinery from DNA damage via two distinct mechanisms.

Transcription-coupled nucleotide excision repair (TC-NER) is an important DNA repair mechanism that removes RNA polymerase (RNAP)-stalling DNA damage from the transcribed strand (TS) of active genes. TC-NER deficiency in humans is associated with the severe neurological disorder Cockayne syndrome. Initiation of TC-NER is mediated by specific factors such as the human Cockayne syndrome group B (CSB) protein or its yeast homolog Rad26. However, the genome-wide role of CSB/Rad26 in TC-NER, particularly in the context of the chromatin organization, is unclear. Here, we used single-nucleotide resolution UV damage mapping data to show that Rad26 and its ATPase activity is critical for TC-NER downstream of the first (+1) nucleosome in gene coding regions. However, TC-NER on the transcription start site (TSS)-proximal half of the +1 nucleosome is largely independent of Rad26, likely due to high occupancy of the transcription initiation/repair factor TFIIH in this nucleosome. Downstream of the +1 nucleosome, the combination of low TFIIH occupancy and high occupancy of the transcription elongation factor Spt4/Spt5 suppresses TC-NER in Rad26-deficient cells. We show that deletion of SPT4 significantly restores TC-NER across the genome in a rad26∆ mutant, particularly in the downstream nucleosomes. These data demonstrate that the requirement for Rad26 in TC-NER is modulated by the distribution of TFIIH and Spt4/Spt5 in transcribed chromatin and Rad26 mainly functions downstream of the +1 nucleosome to remove TC-NER suppression by Spt4/Spt5.

Mutants created by deleting the ddrA, ddrB, ddrC, ddrD, and pprA loci of Deinococcus radiodurans R1alone and in all possible combinations of pairs revealed that the encoded gene products contribute to this species’ resistance to UV light and/or mitomycin C. Deleting pprA from an otherwise wild type cell sensitizes the resulting strain to UV irradiation, reducing viability by as much as eight fold relative to R1. If this deletion is introduced into a ΔddrA or ΔddrD background, the resulting strains become profoundly sensitive to the lethal effects of UV light. At a fluence of 1000 Jm-2, the ΔddrA ΔpprA and ΔddrD ΔpprA strains are 100- and 1000-fold more sensitive to UV relative to the strain that has only lost pprA. Deletion of ddrA results in a 100 fold increase in strain sensitivity to mitomycin C, but in backgrounds that combine a deletion of ddrA with deletions of either ddrC or ddrD, mitomycin resistance is restored to wild type levels. Inactivation of ddrB also increases D. radiodurans sensitivity to mitomycin, but unlike the ddrA mutant deleting ddrC or ddrD from a ΔddrB background further increases that sensitivity. Despite the effect that loss of these gene products has on DNA damage resistance, none appear to directly affect either excision repair or homologous recombination suggesting that they participate in novel processes that facilitate tolerance to UV light and interstrand crosslinks in this species.

Transcription-coupled DNA repair (TCR) is a subpathway of nucleotide excision repair (NER) dedicated to rapid removal of DNA lesions in the transcribed strand of actively transcribed genes. The precise nature of the TCR signal and how the repair machinery gains access to lesions imbedded in stalled RNA polymerase II (RNAP II) complexes in eukaryotic cells are still enigmatic. RNAP II has an intrinsic capacity for transcription bypass of DNA lesions by incorporation or misincorporation of nucleotides across the lesions. It has been suggested that transcription bypass of lesions, which exposes the lesions, may be required for TCR. Here, we show that E1103G mutation of Rpb1, the largest subunit of RNAP II, which promotes transcription bypass of UV-induced cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs), increases survival of UV irradiated yeast cells but attenuates TCR. The increased cell survival is independent of any NER subpathways. In contrast, G730D mutation of Rpb1, which impairs transcription bypass of CPDs, enhances TCR. Our results suggest that transcription bypass of lesions attenuates TCR but enhances cell tolerance to DNA lesions. Efficient stalling of RNAP II is essential for efficient TCR.

Rad26, a DNA dependent ATPase that is homologous to human CSB, has been well known to play an important role in transcription coupled DNA repair (TCR) in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Sen1, a DNA/RNA helicase that is essential for yeast cell viability and homologous to human senataxin, has been known to be required for transcriptional termination of short noncoding RNA genes and for a fail-safe transcriptional termination mechanism of protein-coding genes. Sen1 has also been shown to protect the yeast genome from transcription-associated recombination by resolving RNA:DNA hybrids naturally formed during transcription. Here, we show that the N-terminal non-essential region of Sen1 plays an important role in TCR, whereas the C-terminal nonessential region and the helicase activity of Sen1 are largely dispensable for the repair. Unlike Rad26, which becomes completely dispensable for TCR in cells lacking the TCR repressor Spt4, Sen1 is still required for efficient TCR in the absence of Spt4. Also unlike Rad26, which is important for repair at many but not all damaged sites in the transcribed strand of a gene, Sen1 is required for efficient repair at essentially all the damaged sites. Our results indicate that Sen1 plays a more direct role than Rad26 in TCR.