title: DMC1: a meiosis-specific yeast homolog of E. coli recA required for recombination, synaptonemal complex formation, and cell cycle progression.
abstract: DMC1 is a new meiosis-specific yeast gene. Dmc1 protein is structurally similar to bacterial RecA proteins. dmc1 mutants are defective in reciprocal recombination, accumulate double-strand break (DSB) recombination intermediates, fail to form normal synaptonemal complex (SC), and arrest late in meiotic prophase. dmc1 phenotypes are consistent with a functional relationship between Dmc1 and RecA, and thus eukaryotic and prokaryotic mechanisms for homology recognition and strand exchange may be related. dmc1 phenotypes provide further evidence that recombination and SC formation are interrelated processes and are consistent with a requirement for DNA-DNA interactions during SC formation. dmc1 mutations confer prophase arrest. Additional evidence suggests that arrest occurs at a meiosis-specific cell cycle "checkpoint" in response to a primary defect in prophase chromosome metabolism. DMC1 is homologous to yeast's RAD51 gene, supporting the view that mitotic DSB repair has been recruited for use in meiotic chromosome metabolism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138.
authors.forename: D K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Bishop
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kleckner
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D002453:Cell Cycle; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D004843:Epistasis, Genetic; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D008540:Meiosis; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry; D011938:Rec A Recombinases; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000502:physiology*; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013573:Synaptonemal Complex
chemical_list: D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; C513033:DMC1 protein, S cerevisiae; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D011938:Rec A Recombinases