Boon and Bane of DNA Double-Strand Breaks

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), interrupting the genetic information, are elicited by various environmental and endogenous factors. They bear the risk of cell lethality and, if mis-repaired, of deleterious mutation. This negative impact is contrasted by several evolutionary achievements for DSB processing that help maintaining stable inheritance (correct repair, meiotic cross-over) and even drive adaptation (immunoglobulin gene recombination), differentiation (chromatin elimination) and speciation by creating new genetic diversity via DSB mis-repair. Targeted DSBs play a role in genome editing for research, breeding and therapy purposes. Here, I survey possible causes, biological effects and evolutionary consequences of DSBs, mainly for students and outsiders.

Ultrastructural aspects of chromatin elimination in hybrid embryos of Hordeum

Chromatin elimination was observed in hybrid embryos of <em>Hordeum</em> as incorporation of single chromosomes into tiny vacuoles-lysomes and as fragmentation of interphase nuclei: The latter process led mostly to the formation of micronuclei which underwent gradual degradation.

Nuclear morphology, polyploidy, and chromatin elimination in tissue culture of Allium fistulosum L.

<p>The morphology of cell nuclei in callus obtained from root-tip meristems of <em>Allium fistulosum</em> L. (Monocotyledoneae, Alliaceae) was analysed. The most interesting phenomena observed in long-term callus culture were the different mechanisms of cell polyploidization, enlargement of telomeric segments of heterochromatin, and extensive chromatin elimination, associated with instability of nuclei size and DNA content.</p><p>Protruding heterochromatin "spikes" were observed on the surface of some di- and polyploid nuclei. The presence of these spikes was connected with the formation of small heterochromatic micronuclei frequently found in the cytoplasm. It is suggested that these micronuclei are produced by direct elimination of heterochromatin from the interphase nuclei.</p><p>Polyploid cells accumulated with each successive cell collection. The ploidy level attained by highly polyploid cells was 15C-220C. The shape of the nuclei and heterochromatin distribution suggest that polyploid nuclei in <em>A. fistulosum</em> tissue culture are produced by endoreduplication and by restitution cycles.</p>