Photoreactivation in pigmented and non-pigmented extreme halophiles

The sensitivity to ultraviolet radiation (254 nm) and the photoreactivability of four pigmented and three colourless strains of the extremely halophilic bacteria Halobacterium cutirubrum and Halobacterium salinarium have been studied. The results with three pigmented/non-pigmented pairs show that the pigments play an accessory role in photoreactivation at low visible light intensities and confirm that they do not provide passive protection against ultraviolet light. Evidence is presented that photoreactivation plays an unexpected direct role in the resistance of extreme halophiles to ultraviolet radiation and that colourless mutants of H. cutirubrum NRC 34001 only arise in cultures that have been both ultraviolet-irradiated and photoreactivated. None of these extreme halophiles is capable of excision repair of ultraviolet damage to DNA.