scholarly journals Pathways for Homologous Recombination Between Chromosomal Direct Repeats in Salmonella typhimurium

Genetics ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 146 (3) ◽  
pp. 751-767 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Galitski ◽  
John R Roth

Homologous recombination pathways probably evolved primarily to accomplish chromosomal repair and the formation and resolution of duplications by sister-chromosome exchanges. Various DNA lesions initiate these events. Classical recombination assays, involving bacterial sex, focus attention on double-strand ends of DNA. Sexual exchanges, initiated at these ends, depend on the RecBCD pathway. In the absence of RecBCD function, mutation of the sbcB and sbcC genes activates the apparently cryptic RecF pathway. To provide a more general view of recombination, we describe an assay in which endogenous DNA damage initiates recombination between chromosomal direct repeats. The repeats flank markers conferring lactose utilization (Lac+) and ampicillin resistance (ApR); recombination generates Lac-ApS segregants. In this assay, the RecF pathway is not cryptic; it plays a major role without sbcBC mutations. Others have proposed that single-strand gaps are the natural substrate for RecF-dependent recombination. Supporting this view, recombination stimulated by a double-strand break (DSB) in a chromosomal repeat depended on RecB function, not RecF function. Without RecBCD function, sbcBC mutations modified the RecF pathway and allowed it to catalyze DSB-stimulated recombination. Sexual recombination assays overestimate the importance of RecBCD and DSBs, and underestimate the importance of the RecF pathway.

2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 188
Author(s):  
A. Brero ◽  
D. Koehler ◽  
T. Cremer ◽  
E. Wolf ◽  
V. Zakhartchenko

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are considered the most severe type of DNA lesions, because such lesions, if unrepaired, lead to a loss of genome integrity. Soon after induction of DSBs, chromatin surrounding the damage is modified by phosphorylation of the histone variant H2AX, generating so-called γH2AX, which is a hallmark of DSBs (Takahashi et al. 2005 Cancer Lett. 229, 171–179). γH2AX appears to be a signal for the recruitment of proteins constituting the DNA repair machinery. Depending on the type of damage and the cell cycle stage of the affected cell, DSBs are repaired either by nonhomologous end joining or by homologous recombination using the sister chromatid DNA as template (Hoeijmakers 2001 Nature 411, 366–374). We used immunofluorescence to analyze chromatin composition during bovine development and found γH2AX foci in both male and female pronuclei of IVF embryos. The number and size of foci varied considerably between embryos and between the male and female pronuclei. To test whether the observed γH2AX foci represented sites of active DNA repair, we co-stained IVF zygotes for γH2AX and 3 different proteins involved in homologous recombination repair of DSBs: NBS1 (phosphorylated at amino acid serine 343), 53BP1, and Rad51. We found co-localization of γH2AX foci with phosphorylated NBS1 as well as with Rad51 but did not observe the presence of 53BP1 at γH2AX foci in IVF zygotes. Our finding shows the presence of DSBs in IVF zygotes and suggests the capability of homologous recombination repair. The lack of 53BP1, a component of homologous recombination repair, which usually co-localizes with γH2AX foci at exogenously induced DSBs (Schultz et al. 2000 J. Cell. Biol. 151, 1381–1390) poses the possibility that the mechanism present in early embryos differs substantially from that involved in DNA repair of DSBs in somatic cells.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jac A. Nickoloff ◽  
Neelam Sharma ◽  
Lynn Taylor ◽  
Sage J. Allen ◽  
Robert Hromas

Cells must replicate and segregate their DNA to daughter cells accurately to maintain genome stability and prevent cancer. DNA replication is usually fast and accurate, with intrinsic (proofreading) and extrinsic (mismatch repair) error-correction systems. However, replication forks slow or stop when they encounter DNA lesions, natural pause sites, and difficult-to-replicate sequences, or when cells are treated with DNA polymerase inhibitors or hydroxyurea, which depletes nucleotide pools. These challenges are termed replication stress, to which cells respond by activating DNA damage response signaling pathways that delay cell cycle progression, stimulate repair and replication fork restart, or induce apoptosis. Stressed forks are managed by rescue from adjacent forks, repriming, translesion synthesis, template switching, and fork reversal which produces a single-ended double-strand break (seDSB). Stressed forks also collapse to seDSBs when they encounter single-strand nicks or are cleaved by structure-specific nucleases. Reversed and cleaved forks can be restarted by homologous recombination (HR), but seDSBs pose risks of mis-rejoining by non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) to other DSBs, causing genome rearrangements. HR requires resection of broken ends to create 3’ single-stranded DNA for RAD51 recombinase loading, and resected ends are refractory to repair by NHEJ. This Mini Review highlights mechanisms that help maintain genome stability by promoting resection of seDSBs and accurate fork restart by HR.


2002 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 630-670 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorraine S. Symington

SUMMARY The process of homologous recombination is a major DNA repair pathway that operates on DNA double-strand breaks, and possibly other kinds of DNA lesions, to promote error-free repair. Central to the process of homologous recombination are the RAD52 group genes (RAD50, RAD51, RAD52, RAD54, RDH54/TID1, RAD55, RAD57, RAD59, MRE11, and XRS2), most of which were identified by their requirement for the repair of ionizing-radiation-induced DNA damage in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The Rad52 group proteins are highly conserved among eukaryotes, and Rad51, Mre11, and Rad50 are also conserved in prokaryotes and archaea. Recent studies showing defects in homologous recombination and double-strand break repair in several human cancer-prone syndromes have emphasized the importance of this repair pathway in maintaining genome integrity. Although sensitivity to ionizing radiation is a universal feature of rad52 group mutants, the mutants show considerable heterogeneity in different assays for recombinational repair of double-strand breaks and spontaneous mitotic recombination. Herein, I provide an overview of recent biochemical and structural analyses of the Rad52 group proteins and discuss how this information can be incorporated into genetic studies of recombination.


Genetics ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 152 (4) ◽  
pp. 1407-1415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine J Schmidt ◽  
Kristen E Beck ◽  
Dennis W Grogan

Abstract The hyperthermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius exchanges and recombines chromosomal markers by a conjugational mechanism, and the overall yield of recombinants is greatly increased by previous exposure to UV light. This stimulation was studied in an effort to clarify its mechanism and that of marker exchange itself. A variety of experiments failed to identify a significant effect of UV irradiation on the frequency of cell pairing, indicating that subsequent steps are primarily affected, i.e., transfer of DNA between cells or homologous recombination. The UV-induced stimulation decayed rather quickly in parental cells during preincubation at 75°, and the rate of decay depended on the incubation temperature. Preincubation at 75° decreased the yield of recombinants neither from unirradiated parental cells nor from parental suspensions subsequently irradiated. We interpret these results as evidence that marker exchange is stimulated by recombinogenic DNA lesions formed as intermediates in the process of repairing UV photoproducts in the S. acidocaldarius chromosome.


Author(s):  
Thomas R. Reich ◽  
Christian Schwarzenbach ◽  
Juliana Brandstetter Vilar ◽  
Sven Unger ◽  
Fabian Mühlhäusler ◽  
...  

AbstractTo clarify whether differential compartmentalization of Survivin impacts temozolomide (TMZ)-triggered end points, we established a well-defined glioblastoma cell model in vitro (LN229 and A172) and in vivo, distinguishing between its nuclear and cytoplasmic localization. Expression of nuclear export sequence (NES)-mutated Survivin (SurvNESmut-GFP) led to impaired colony formation upon TMZ. This was not due to enhanced cell death but rather due to increased senescence. Nuclear-trapped Survivin reduced homologous recombination (HR)-mediated double-strand break (DSB) repair, as evaluated by γH2AX foci formation and qPCR-based HR assay leading to pronounced induction of chromosome aberrations. Opposite, clones, expressing free-shuttling cytoplasmic but not nuclear-trapped Survivin, could repair TMZ-induced DSBs and evaded senescence. Mass spectrometry-based interactomics revealed, however, no direct interaction of Survivin with any of the repair factors. The improved TMZ-triggered HR activity in Surv-GFP was associated with enhanced mRNA and stabilized RAD51 protein expression, opposite to diminished RAD51 expression in SurvNESmut cells. Notably, cytoplasmic Survivin could significantly compensate for the viability under RAD51 knockdown. Differential Survivin localization also resulted in distinctive TMZ-triggered transcriptional pathways, associated with senescence and chromosome instability as shown by global transcriptome analysis. Orthotopic LN229 xenografts, expressing SurvNESmut exhibited diminished growth and increased DNA damage upon TMZ, as manifested by PCNA and γH2AX foci expression, respectively, in brain tissue sections. Consequently, those mice lived longer. Although tumors of high-grade glioma patients expressed majorly nuclear Survivin, they exhibited rarely NES mutations which did not correlate with survival. Based on our in vitro and xenograft data, Survivin nuclear trapping would facilitate glioma response to TMZ.


Genetics ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 161 (3) ◽  
pp. 1065-1075
Author(s):  
David K Butler ◽  
David Gillespie ◽  
Brandi Steele

Abstract Large DNA palindromes form sporadically in many eukaryotic and prokaryotic genomes and are often associated with amplified genes. The presence of a short inverted repeat sequence near a DNA double-strand break has been implicated in the formation of large palindromes in a variety of organisms. Previously we have established that in Saccharomyces cerevisae a linear DNA palindrome is efficiently formed from a single-copy circular plasmid when a DNA double-strand break is introduced next to a short inverted repeat sequence. In this study we address whether the linear palindromes form by an intermolecular reaction (that is, a reaction between two identical fragments in a head-to-head arrangement) or by an unusual intramolecular reaction, as it apparently does in other examples of palindrome formation. Our evidence supports a model in which palindromes are primarily formed by an intermolecular reaction involving homologous recombination of short inverted repeat sequences. We have also extended our investigation into the requirement for DNA double-strand break repair genes in palindrome formation. We have found that a deletion of the RAD52 gene significantly reduces palindrome formation by intermolecular recombination and that deletions of two other genes in the RAD52-epistasis group (RAD51 and MRE11) have little or no effect on palindrome formation. In addition, palindrome formation is dramatically reduced by a deletion of the nucleotide excision repair gene RAD1.


Genetics ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 140 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Parket ◽  
O Inbar ◽  
M Kupiec

Abstract The Ty retrotransposons are the main family of dispersed repeated sequences in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. These elements are flanked by a pair of long terminal direct repeats (LTRs). Previous experiments have shown that Ty elements recombine at low frequencies, despite the fact that they are present in 30 copies per genome. This frequency is not highly increased by treatments that cause DNA damage, such as UV irradiation. In this study, we show that it is possible to increase the recombination level of a genetically marked Ty by creating a double-strand break in it. This break is repaired by two competing mechanisms: one of them leaves a single LTR in place of the Ty, and the other is a gene conversion event in which the marked Ty is replaced by an ectopically located one. In a strain in which the marked Ty has only one LTR, the double-strand break is repaired by conversion. We have also measured the efficiency of repair and monitored the progression of the cells through the cell-cycle. We found that in the presence of a double-strand break in the marked Ty, a proportion of the cells is unable to resume growth.


Author(s):  
James E. Haber ◽  
Gregorz Ira ◽  
Anna Malkova ◽  
Neal Sugawara

Since the pioneering model for homologous recombination proposed by Robin Holliday in 1964, there has been great progress in understanding how recombination occurs at a molecular level. In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae , one can follow recombination by physically monitoring DNA after the synchronous induction of a double–strand break (DSB) in both wild–type and mutant cells. A particularly well–studied system has been the switching of yeast mating–type ( MAT ) genes, where a DSB can be induced synchronously by expression of the site–specific HO endonuclease. Similar studies can be performed in meiotic cells, where DSBs are created by the Spo11 nuclease. There appear to be at least two competing mechanisms of homologous recombination: a synthesis–dependent strand annealing pathway leading to noncrossovers and a two–end strand invasion mechanism leading to formation and resolution of Holliday junctions (HJs), leading to crossovers. The establishment of a modified replication fork during DSB repair links gene conversion to another important repair process, break–induced replication. Despite recent revelations, almost 40 years after Holliday's model was published, the essential ideas he proposed of strand invasion and heteroduplex DNA formation, the formation and resolution of HJs, and mismatch repair, remain the basis of our thinking.


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