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Updated: May 29, 2026
Visualizing and Quantifying Endonuclease-Based Site-Specific DNA Damage
Published on: August 21, 2021
Gene regulation in response to DNA damage
Anja Mannuss1, Oliver Trapp, Holger Puchta
1Botanical Institute II, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany.
Abstract:
To deal with different kinds of DNA damages, there are a number of repair pathways that must be carefully orchestrated to guarantee genomic stability. Many proteins that play a role in DNA repair are involved in multiple pathways and need to be tightly regulated to conduct the functions required for efficient repair of different DNA damage types, such as double strand breaks or DNA crosslinks caused by radiation or genotoxins. While most of the factors involved in DNA repair are conserved throughout the different kingdoms, recent results have shown that the regulation of their expression is variable between different organisms. In the following paper, we give an overview of what is currently known about regulating factors and gene expression in response to DNA damage and put this knowledge in context with the different DNA repair pathways in plants. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Plant gene regulation in response to abiotic stress.
Insights
Plants utilize complex DNA repair pathways to maintain genomic stability. Gene expression regulation in response to DNA damage varies across organisms, highlighting unique plant strategies.
Area of Science:
- Molecular Biology
- Genetics
- Plant Science
Background:
- Genomic stability is crucial and maintained by orchestrated DNA repair pathways.
- DNA repair proteins often participate in multiple pathways, requiring tight regulation.
- While DNA repair factors are conserved, their expression regulation differs across species.
Purpose of the Study:
- To provide an overview of regulatory factors and gene expression in plants responding to DNA damage.
- To contextualize plant DNA repair mechanisms within known regulatory strategies.
- To highlight the variability in DNA repair gene expression regulation in plants.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of DNA repair pathways and gene expression regulation.
- Comparative analysis of regulatory mechanisms across different organisms.
- Synthesis of current knowledge on plant-specific DNA damage responses.
Main Results:
- Identified key regulatory factors involved in plant DNA repair.
- Detailed the orchestration of various DNA repair pathways in response to damage.
- Emphasized the species-specific nature of gene expression control in plant DNA repair.
Conclusions:
- Plant DNA repair is a complex process involving tightly regulated gene expression.
- Understanding these regulatory mechanisms is vital for improving plant resilience to genotoxic stress.
- This review contributes to the understanding of plant gene regulation under stress conditions.
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