Use of a ring chromosome and pulsed-field gels to study interhomolog recombination, double-strand DNA breaks and sister-chromatid exchange in yeast.

Genetics ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 123 (4) ◽  
pp. 695-713 ◽  
Author(s):  
J C Game ◽  
K C Sitney ◽  
V E Cook ◽  
R K Mortimer

Abstract We describe a system that uses pulsed-field gels for the physical detection of recombinant DNA molecules, double-strand DNA breaks (DSB) and sister-chromatid exchange in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The system makes use of a circular variant of chromosome III (Chr. III). Meiotic recombination between this ring chromosome and a linear homolog produces new molecules of sizes distinguishable on gels from either parental molecule. We demonstrate that these recombinant molecules are not present either in strains with two linear Chr. III molecules or in rad50 mutants, which are defective in meiotic recombination. In conjunction with the molecular endpoints, we present data on the timing of commitment to meiotic recombination scored genetically. We have used x-rays to linearize circular Chr. III, both to develop a sensitive method for measuring frequency of DSB and as a means of detecting double-sized circles originating in part from sister-chromatid exchange, which we find to be frequent during meiosis.

Genetics ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 143 (3) ◽  
pp. 1115-1125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fei Xu ◽  
Thomas D Petes

Abstract Meiotic recombination in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is initiated by double-strand DNA breaks (DSBs). Using two approaches, we mapped the position of DSBs associated with a recombination hotspot created by insertion of telomeric sequences into the region upstream of HIS4. We found that the breaks have no obvious sequence specificity and localize to a region of ~50 bp adjacent to the telomeric insertion. By mapping the breaks and by studies of the exonuclease III sensitivity of the broken ends, we conclude that most of the broken DNA molecules have blunt ends with 3′-hydroxyl groups.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuya Higashi ◽  
Kotaro Matsumoto ◽  
Hiroyuki Saitoh ◽  
Ayumi Shiro ◽  
Yue Ma ◽  
...  

AbstractX-ray irradiation of high Z elements causes photoelectric effects that include the release of Auger electrons that can induce localized DNA breaks. We have previously established a tumor spheroid-based assay that used gadolinium containing mesoporous silica nanoparticles and synchrotron-generated monochromatic X-rays. In this work, we focused on iodine and synthesized iodine-containing porous organosilica (IPO) nanoparticles. IPO were loaded onto tumor spheroids and the spheroids were irradiated with 33.2 keV monochromatic X-ray. After incubation in CO2 incubator, destruction of tumor spheroids was observed which was accompanied by apoptosis induction, as determined by the TUNEL assay. By employing the γH2AX assay, we detected double strand DNA cleavages immediately after the irradiation. These results suggest that IPO first generate double strand DNA breaks upon X-ray irradiation followed by apoptosis induction of cancer cells. Use of three different monochromatic X-rays having energy levels of 33.0, 33.2 and 33.4 keV as well as X-rays with 0.1 keV energy intervals showed that the optimum effect of all three events (spheroid destruction, apoptosis induction and generation of double strand DNA breaks) occurred with a 33.2 keV monochromatic X-ray. These results uncover the preferential effect of K-edge energy X-ray for tumor spheroid destruction mediated by iodine containing nanoparticles.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorota Rousova ◽  
Saskia K. Funk ◽  
Heidi Reichle ◽  
John R. Weir

One of the defining features of sexual reproduction is the recombination events that take place during meiosis I. Recombination is both evolutionarily advantageous, but also mechanistically necessary to form the crossovers that link homologous chromosomes. Meiotic recombination is initiated through the placement of programmed double-strand DNA breaks (DSBs) mediated by the protein Spo11. The timing, number, and physical placement of DSBs are carefully controlled through a variety of protein machinery. Previous work has implicated Mer2(IHO1 in mammals) to be involved in both the placement of breaks, and their timing. In this study we use a combination of protein biochemistry and biophysics to extensively characterise various roles of the Mer2. We gain further insights into the details of Mer2 interaction with the PHD protein Spp1, reveal that Mer2 is a novel nucleosome binder, and suggest how Mer2’s interaction with the HORMA domain protein Hop1 (HORMAD1/2 in mammals) is controlled.


2004 ◽  
Vol 164 (6) ◽  
pp. 819-829 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hayley A. Webber ◽  
Louisa Howard ◽  
Sharon E. Bickel

During meiosis, sister chromatid cohesion is required for normal levels of homologous recombination, although how cohesion regulates exchange is not understood. Null mutations in orientation disruptor (ord) ablate arm and centromeric cohesion during Drosophila meiosis and severely reduce homologous crossovers in mutant oocytes. We show that ORD protein localizes along oocyte chromosomes during the stages in which recombination occurs. Although synaptonemal complex (SC) components initially associate with synapsed homologues in ord mutants, their localization is severely disrupted during pachytene progression, and normal tripartite SC is not visible by electron microscopy. In ord germaria, meiotic double strand breaks appear and disappear with frequency and timing indistinguishable from wild type. However, Ring chromosome recovery is dramatically reduced in ord oocytes compared with wild type, which is consistent with the model that defects in meiotic cohesion remove the constraints that normally limit recombination between sisters. We conclude that ORD activity suppresses sister chromatid exchange and stimulates inter-homologue crossovers, thereby promoting homologue bias during meiotic recombination in Drosophila.


Genetics ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 145 (3) ◽  
pp. 661-670 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qing-Qing Fan ◽  
Fei Xu ◽  
Michael A White ◽  
Thomas D Petes

In a wild-type strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a hotspot for meiotic recombination is located upstream of the HIS4 gene. An insertion of a 49-bp telomeric sequence into the coding region of HIS4 strongly stimulates meiotic recombination and the local formation of meiosis-specific double-strand DNA breaks (DSBs). When strains are constructed in which both hotspots are heterozygous, hotspot activity is substantially less when the hotspots are on the same chromosome than when they are on opposite chromosomes.


2010 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Łękawa–Ilczuk ◽  
Halina Antosz ◽  
Beata Rymgayłło–Jankowska ◽  
Tomasz Żarnowski

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (26) ◽  
pp. 6459-6459
Author(s):  
Sebastian Bestgen ◽  
Carmen Seidl ◽  
Thomas Wiesner ◽  
Andreas Zimmer ◽  
Martina Falk ◽  
...  

Gerontology ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 296-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin-Sun Ryu ◽  
Hyeon-Sook Koo

Werner syndrome protein (WRN) is unusual among RecQ family DNA helicases in having an additional exonuclease activity. WRN is involved in the repair of double-strand DNA breaks via the homologous recombination and nonhomologous end joining pathways, and also in the base excision repair pathway. In addition, the protein promotes the recovery of stalled replication forks. The helicase activity is thought to unwind DNA duplexes, thereby moving replication forks or Holliday junctions. The targets of the exonuclease could be the nascent DNA strands at a replication fork or the ends of double-strand DNA breaks. However, it is not clear which enzyme activities are essential for repairing different types of DNA damage. Model organisms such as mice, flies, and worms deficient in WRN homologs have been investigated to understand the physiological results of defects in WRN activity. Premature aging, the most remarkable characteristic of Werner syndrome, is also seen in the mutant mice and worms, and hypersensitivity to DNA damage has been observed in WRN mutants of all three model organisms, pointing to conservation of the functions of WRN. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, the WRN homolog contains a helicase domain but no exonuclease domain, so that this animal is very useful for studying the in vivo functions of the helicase without interference from the activity of the exonuclease. Here, we review the current status of investigations of C. elegans WRN-1 and discuss its functional differences from the mammalian homologs.


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