Strand asymmetry influences mismatch repair during single-strand annealing
ABSTRACTBiases of DNA repair can shape the nucleotide landscape of genomes at evolutionary timescales. However, such biases have not yet been measured in chromatin for lack of technologies. Here we develop a genome-wide assay whereby the same DNA lesion is repaired in different chromatin contexts. We insert thousands of barcoded transposons carrying a reporter of DNA mismatch repair in the genome of mouse embryonic stem cells. Upon inducing a double-strand break between tandem repeats, a mismatch is generated when the single strand annealing repair pathway is used. Surprisingly, the mismatch repair machinery favors the same strand 60-80% of the time. The location of the lesion in the genome and the type of mismatch have little influence on the repair bias in this context. Using machine learning, we further show that both the repair bias and the efficiency of the repair are independent of known chromatin features. These results suggest that some intrinsic property of the lesion can have a large influence on the outcome of DNA repair, irrespective of the surrounding chromatin context.