title: Rad51 protein involved in repair and recombination in S. cerevisiae is a RecA-like protein.
abstract: The RAD51 gene of S. cerevisiae is involved in mitotic recombination and repair of DNA damage and also in meiosis. We show that the rad51 null mutant accumulates meiosis-specific double-strand breaks (DSBs) at a recombination hotspot and reduces the formation of physical recombinants. Rad51 protein shows structural similarity to RecA protein, the bacterial strand exchange protein. Furthermore, we have found that Rad51 protein is similar to RecA in its DNA binding properties and binds directly to Rad52 protein, which also plays a crucial role in recombination. These results suggest that the Rad51 protein, probably together with Rad52 protein, is involved in a step to convert DSBs to the next intermediate in recombination. Rad51 protein is also homologous to a meiosis-specific Dmc1 protein of S. cerevisiae.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Osaka University, Japan.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shinohara
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ogawa
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D004260:DNA Repair; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D015870:Gene Expression; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008540:Meiosis; D008938:Mitosis; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry; D012331:RNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D051135:Rad51 Recombinase; D011938:Rec A Recombinases; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics*; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D012331:RNA, Fungal; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; C495151:RAD51 protein, S cerevisiae; D051135:Rad51 Recombinase; D011938:Rec A Recombinases