Several alkylating agents that either occur in the environment or are self-produced can cause DNA-damaging injuries in bacterial cells. Therefore, all microorganisms have developed repair systems that are able to counteract DNA alkylation damage. The adaptive response to alkylation stress in Escherichia coli consists of the Ada operon, which has been widely described; however, the homologous system in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) has been shown to have a different genetic organization but it is still largely unknown. In order to describe the defense system of MTB, we first investigated the proteins involved in the repair mechanism in the homologous non-pathogenic mycobacterium M. smegmatis. Ogt, Ada-AlkA and FadE8 proteins were recombinantly produced, purified and characterized. The biological role of Ogt was examined using proteomic experiments to identify its protein partners in vivo under stress conditions. Our results suggested the formation of a functional complex between Ogt and Ada-AlkA, which was confirmed both in silico by docking calculations and by gel filtration chromatography. We propose that this stable association allows the complex to fulfill the biological roles exerted by Ada in the homologous E. coli system. Finally, FadE8 was demonstrated to be structurally and functionally related to its E. coli homologous, AidB.
Keywords: DNA-damaging; Mycobacterium smegmatis; adaptive response; alkylating agents; gel filtration chromatography; molecular docking.