DetR DB: A Database of Ionizing Radiation Resistance Determinants

Abstract

Nuclear pollution is an urgent environmental issue as a consequence of rapid industrialization and nuclear accidents in the past. Remediation of nuclear polluted sites using microbial vital activity (bioremediation) is a promising approach to recover contaminated areas in an environmentally friendly and cost-saving way. At the same time, the number of known bacterial and archaeal species able to withstand extremely high doses of ionizing radiation is steadily growing every year, together with growing knowledge about mechanisms of radioresistance. This opens up new opportunities for developing new biotechnological solutions. However, these data are often not systemized and it can be difficult to access. Here, we present the Determinants of Radioresistance Database, or DetR DB (http://extremebiolab.com/detr-db/), gathering a comprehensive catalog of radioresistant microbes and their molecular and genetic determinants of enhanced ionizing radiation tolerance. The database provides search tools including taxonomy, common gene name, and BLAST. DetR DB will be a useful tool for research community by facilitating the extraction of the necessary information to help further analysis of radiation-resistant mechanisms.

Impact of ionizing radiation on the environmental microbiomes of Chernobyl wetlands

“…Bacteria are often considered to have a greater resistance to ionizing radiation than other organisms (ICRP, 2014). Some bacterial taxa have been recovered from highly radio-contaminated environments, and, in some cases, their radioresistance capacity has been demonstrated under laboratory conditions (Ryabova et al, 2020). However, these studies have been restricted to a handful of taxa while the majority of environmental bacteria have never been studied in relation to radiation, neither in the laboratory nor in their natural environment.…”