CLINOPODIUM VULGARE L. EXTRACT COUNTERACTS DNA DAMAGING ACTION OF RADIOMIMETIC ZEOCIN ACCELERATING DSBS REJOINING IN SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE

The aim of the present work was to evaluate the potential of Clinopodium vulgare water leaves extract to decrease the DNA damaging action of zeocin and to throw more light on the mode of action. Single and combined treatments with 10, 100, and 1000 mu g/ml plant extract and 100 mu g/ml zeocin were performed on 551 (haploid) and D7ts1 (diploid) yeast strains. The protective potential, the magnitude of the repair capacity, and the role of incubation conditions were studied based on double strand breaks' (DSB) induction and rejoining. The results provided new evidence that despite the different ploidy both strains are DSBs repair proficient but differ in their repair capacity although comparable levels of initially induced DSBs were measured. The diploid strain D7ts1 was found to possess better -expressed repair capacity than the haploid strain 551. The combined treatment with Clinopodium vulgare L. extract at concentrations' range of 10-1000 mu g/ml and zeocin resulted in a significant decrease in DSBs levels. It could be suggested that priming the cells with various concentrations of the extract results in an acceleration of DSBs rejoining when 30 min recovery time at optimal experimental conditions is given. When incubation is performed on ice the repair processes are impeded but not fully blocked. Such a study confirms that the difference in the repair capacity of the cells could be one of the possible mechanisms, participating in cell protection against different DNA damaging factors. The combined application of Clinopodium vulgare L. extract at concentrations range of 10-1000 mu g/ml protects yeast DNA against zeocin-induced DSBs by acceleration of DSB rejoining.