scholarly journals Spontaneous and double-strand break-induced recombination, and gene conversion tract lengths, are differentially affected by overexpression of wild-type or ATPase-defective yeast Rad54

2002 ◽  
Vol 30 (13) ◽  
pp. 2727-2735 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. M. Kim
Genetics ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 153 (2) ◽  
pp. 665-679 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jac A Nickoloff ◽  
Douglas B Sweetser ◽  
Jennifer A Clikeman ◽  
Guru Jot Khalsa ◽  
Sarah L Wheeler

Abstract Spontaneous and double-strand break (DSB)-induced allelic recombination in yeast was investigated in crosses between ura3 heteroalleles inactivated by an HO site and a +1 frameshift mutation, with flanking markers defining a 3.4-kbp interval. In some crosses, nine additional phenotypically silent RFLP mutations were present at ∼100-bp intervals. Increasing heterology from 0.2 to 1% in this interval reduced spontaneous, but not DSB-induced, recombination. For DSB-induced events, 75% were continuous tract gene conversions without a crossover in this interval; discontinuous tracts and conversions associated with a crossover each comprised ∼7% of events, and 10% also converted markers in unbroken alleles. Loss of heterozygosity was seen for all markers centromere distal to the HO site in 50% of products; such loss could reflect gene conversion, break-induced replication, chromosome loss, or G2 crossovers. Using telomere-marked strains we determined that nearly all allelic DSB repair occurs by gene conversion. We further show that most allelic conversion results from mismatch repair of heteroduplex DNA. Interestingly, markers shared between the sparsely and densely marked interval converted at higher rates in the densely marked interval. Thus, the extra markers increased gene conversion tract lengths, which may reflect mismatch repair-induced recombination, or a shift from restoration- to conversion-type repair.


2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 897-906 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Pohl ◽  
Jac A. Nickoloff

ABSTRACT Homologous recombination (HR) is critical for DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair and genome stabilization. In yeast, HR is catalyzed by the Rad51 strand transferase and its “mediators,” including the Rad52 single-strand DNA-annealing protein, two Rad51 paralogs (Rad55 and Rad57), and Rad54. A Rad51 homolog, Dmc1, is important for meiotic HR. In wild-type cells, most DSB repair results in gene conversion, a conservative HR outcome. Because Rad51 plays a central role in the homology search and strand invasion steps, DSBs either are not repaired or are repaired by nonconservative single-strand annealing or break-induced replication mechanisms in rad51Δ mutants. Although DSB repair by gene conversion in the absence of Rad51 has been reported for ectopic HR events (e.g., inverted repeats or between plasmids), Rad51 has been thought to be essential for DSB repair by conservative interchromosomal (allelic) gene conversion. Here, we demonstrate that DSBs stimulate gene conversion between homologous chromosomes (allelic conversion) by >30-fold in a rad51Δ mutant. We show that Rad51-independent allelic conversion and break-induced replication occur independently of Rad55, Rad57, and Dmc1 but require Rad52. Unlike DSB-induced events, spontaneous allelic conversion was detected in both rad51Δ and rad52Δ mutants, but not in a rad51Δ rad52Δ double mutant. The frequencies of crossovers associated with DSB-induced gene conversion were similar in the wild type and the rad51Δ mutant, but discontinuous conversion tracts were fivefold more frequent and tract lengths were more widely distributed in the rad51Δ mutant, indicating that heteroduplex DNA has an altered structure, or is processed differently, in the absence of Rad51.


2006 ◽  
Vol 26 (21) ◽  
pp. 8075-8086 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ganesh Nagaraju ◽  
Shobu Odate ◽  
Anyong Xie ◽  
Ralph Scully

ABSTRACT The Rad51 paralog Rad51C has been implicated in the control of homologous recombination. To study the role of Rad51C in vivo in mammalian cells, we analyzed short-tract and long-tract gene conversion between sister chromatids in hamster Rad51C −/− CL-V4B cells in response to a site-specific chromosomal double-strand break. Gene conversion was inefficient in these cells and was specifically restored by expression of wild-type Rad51C. Surprisingly, gene conversions in CL-V4B cells were biased in favor of long-tract gene conversion, in comparison to controls expressing wild-type Rad51C. These long-tract events were not associated with crossing over between sister chromatids. Analysis of gene conversion tract lengths in CL-V4B cells lacking Rad51C revealed a bimodal frequency distribution, with almost all gene conversions being either less than 1 kb or greater than 3.2 kb in length. These results indicate that Rad51C plays a pivotal role in determining the “choice” between short- and long-tract gene conversion and in suppressing gene amplifications associated with sister chromatid recombination.


1998 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 269-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Whelden Cho ◽  
Guru Jot Khalsa ◽  
Jac A. Nickoloff

2004 ◽  
Vol 24 (16) ◽  
pp. 6891-6899 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuan Wang ◽  
Grzegorz Ira ◽  
José Antonio Tercero ◽  
Allyson M. Holmes ◽  
John F. X. Diffley ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Mitotic double-strand break (DSB)-induced gene conversion involves new DNA synthesis. We have analyzed the requirement of several essential replication components, the Mcm proteins, Cdc45p, and DNA ligase I, in the DNA synthesis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae MAT switching. In an mcm7-td (temperature-inducible degron) mutant, MAT switching occurred normally when Mcm7p was degraded below the level of detection, suggesting the lack of the Mcm2-7 proteins during gene conversion. A cdc45-td mutant was also able to complete recombination. Surprisingly, even after eliminating both of the identified DNA ligases in yeast, a cdc9-1 dnl4Δ strain was able to complete DSB repair. Previous studies of asynchronous cultures carrying temperature-sensitive alleles of PCNA, DNA polymerase α (Polα), or primase showed that these mutations inhibited MAT switching (A. M. Holmes and J. E. Haber, Cell 96:415-424, 1999). We have reevaluated the roles of these proteins in G2-arrested cells. Whereas PCNA was still essential for MAT switching, neither Polα nor primase was required. These results suggest that arresting cells in S phase using ts alleles of Polα-primase, prior to inducing the DSB, sequesters some other component that is required for repair. We conclude that DNA synthesis during gene conversion is different from S-phase replication, involving only leading-strand polymerization.


Genetics ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 161 (1) ◽  
pp. 249-258
Author(s):  
Angela M Coveny ◽  
Tammy Dray ◽  
Gregory B Gloor

Abstract We examined the influence that heterologous sequences of different sizes have on the frequency of double-strand-break repair by gene conversion in Drosophila melanogaster. We induced a double-strand break on one X chromosome in female flies by P-element excision. These flies contained heterologous insertions of various sizes located 238 bp from the break site in cis or in trans to the break, or both. We observed a significant decrease in double-strand-break repair with large heterologous insertions located either in cis or in trans to the break. Reestablishing the homology by including the same heterologous sequence in cis and in trans to the double-strand break restored the frequency of gene conversion to wild-type levels. In one instance, an allelic nonhomologous insertion completely abolished repair by homologous recombination. The results show that the repair of a double-strand break by gene conversion requires chromosome pairing in the local region of the double-strand break.


2006 ◽  
Vol 26 (11) ◽  
pp. 4086-4094 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-Chen Lo ◽  
Kimberly S. Paffett ◽  
Or Amit ◽  
Jennifer A. Clikeman ◽  
Rosa Sterk ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT RecQ helicases maintain genome stability and suppress tumors in higher eukaryotes through roles in replication and DNA repair. The yeast RecQ homolog Sgs1 interacts with Top3 topoisomerase and Rmi1. In vitro, Sgs1 binds to and branch migrates Holliday junctions (HJs) and the human RecQ homolog BLM, with Top3α, resolves synthetic double HJs in a noncrossover sense. Sgs1 suppresses crossovers during the homologous recombination (HR) repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). Crossovers are associated with long gene conversion tracts, suggesting a model in which Sgs1 helicase catalyzes reverse branch migration and convergence of double HJs for noncrossover resolution by Top3. Consistent with this model, we show that allelic crossovers and gene conversion tract lengths are increased in sgs1Δ. However, crossover and tract length suppression was independent of Sgs1 helicase activity, which argues against helicase-dependent HJ convergence. HJs may converge passively by a “random walk,” and Sgs1 may play a structural role in stimulating Top3-dependent resolution. In addition to the new helicase-independent functions for Sgs1 in crossover and tract length control, we define three new helicase-dependent functions, including the suppression of chromosome loss, chromosome missegregation, and synthetic lethality in srs2Δ. We propose that Sgs1 has helicase-dependent functions in replication and helicase-independent functions in DSB repair by HR.


Genetics ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 148 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-70
Author(s):  
Yi-shin Weng ◽  
Jac A Nickoloff

Abstract Double-strand break (DSB) induced gene conversion in Saccharomyces cerevisiae during meiosis and MAT switching is mediated primarily by mismatch repair of heteroduplex DNA (hDNA). We used nontandem ura3 duplications containing palindromic frameshift insertion mutations near an HO nuclease recognition site to test whether mismatch repair also mediates DSB-induced mitotic gene conversion at a non-MAT locus. Palindromic insertions included in hDNA are expected to produce a stem-loop mismatch, escape repair, and segregate to produce a sectored (Ura+/−) colony. If conversion occurs by gap repair, the insertion should be removed on both strands, and converted colonies will not be sectored. For both a 14-bp palindrome, and a 37-bp near-palindrome, ~75% of recombinant colonies were sectored, indicating that most DSB-induced mitotic gene conversion involves mismatch repair of hDNA. We also investigated mismatch repair of well-repaired markers flanking an unrepaired palindrome. As seen in previous studies, these additional markers increased loop repair (likely reflecting corepair). Among sectored products, few had additional segregating markers, indicating that the lack of repair at one marker is not associated with inefficient repair at nearby markers. Clear evidence was obtained for low levels of short tract mismatch repair. As seen with full gene conversions, donor alleles in sectored products were not altered. Markers on the same side of the DSB as the palindrome were involved in hDNA less often among sectored products than nonsectored products, but markers on the opposite side of the DSB showed similar hDNA involvement among both product classes. These results can be explained in terms of corepair, and they suggest that mismatch repair on opposite sides of a DSB involves distinct repair tracts.


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