Mechanism of nonhomologous end-joining in mycobacteria: a low-fidelity repair system driven by Ku, ligase D and ligase C

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) can be repaired either via homologous recombination (HR) or nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ). Both pathways are operative in eukaryotes, but bacteria had been thought to rely on HR alone. Here we provide direct evidence that mycobacteria have a robust NHEJ pathway that requires Ku and a specialized polyfunctional ATP-dependent DNA ligase (LigD). NHEJ of blunt-end and complementary 5'-overhang DSBs is highly mutagenic (similar to 50% error rate). Analysis of the recombination junctions ensuing from individual NHEJ events highlighted the participation of several DNA end-remodeling activities, including template-dependent fill-in of 5' overhangs, nontemplated addition of single nucleotides at blunt ends, and nucleolytic resection. LigD itself has the template-dependent and template-independent polymerase functions in vitro that compose the molecular signatures of NHEJ in vivo. Another ATP-dependent DNA ligase (LigC) provides a backup mechanism for LigD-independent error-prone repair of blunt-end DSBs. We speculate that NHEJ allows mycobacteria to evade genotoxic host defense.