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Homologous, homeologous, and illegitimate repair of double-strand breaks during transformation of a wild-type strain and a rad52 mutant strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Journal Article · · Molecular and Cellular Biology
;  [1]
  1. Universite Paris-Sud, Orsay (France)
Different modes of in vivo repair of double-strand breaks (DSBs) have been described for various organisms: the recombinational DSB repair (DSBR) mode, the single-strand annealing (SSA) mode, and end-to-end joining. To investigate these modes of DSB repair in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we have examined the fate of in vitro linearized replicative plasmids during transformation with respect to several parameters. We found that (i) the efficiencies of both intramolecular and intermolecular linear plasmid DSB repair are homology dependent (according to the amount of DNA used during transformation [100 ng or less], recombination between similar but not identical [homeologous] P450s sequences sharing 73% identity is 2- to 18-fold lower than recombination between identical sequences); (ii) the RAD52 gene product is not essential for intramolecular recombination between homologous and homeologous direct repeats (as in the wild-type strain, recombination occurs with respect to the overall alignment of the parental sequences); (iii) in contrast, the RAD52 gene product is required for intermolecular interactions; (iv) similarly, sequencing data revealed examples of intramolecular joining within the few terminal nucleotides of the transforming DNA upon transformation with a linear plasmid with no repeat in the wild-type strain. The recombinant junctions of the rare illegitimate events obtained with S. cerevisiae are very similar to those observed in the repair of DSB in mammalian cells. Together, these and previous results suggest the existence of alternative modes for DSB repair during transformation which differ in their efficiencies and in the structure of their products. We discuss the implications of these results with respect to the existence of alternative pathways and the role of the RAD52 gene product. 67 refs., 4 figs., 5 tabs.
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
OSTI ID:
577137
Journal Information:
Molecular and Cellular Biology, Journal Name: Molecular and Cellular Biology Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 14; ISSN 0270-7306; ISSN MCEBD4
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English