title: A mouse homolog of the Escherichia coli recA and Saccharomyces cerevisiae RAD51 genes.
abstract: Analysis of mitotic and meiotic recombination in mammalian cells has been hampered by the complexity of the reactions involved as well as lack of mutants. Furthermore, none of the genes involved in the process has yet been identified. In budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the RAD51 gene is essential along with other genes of the RAD52 epistasis group for mitotic and meiotic recombination and DNA repair. The Rad51 protein is structurally similar to Escherichia coli RecA protein, which is required in homologous recombination and SOS responses in bacteria. Here we report the isolation of a mouse homolog of the yeast RAD51 gene. The amino acid sequence predicted from the gene shows 83% and 55% homology with those of the yeast RAD51 and the E. coli recA product, respectively. The mouse gene complemented a rad51 mutation of S. cerevisiae with sensitivity to methyl-methanesulfonate, which produces double-strand breaks of DNA. This gene is expressed in the thymus, testis, ovary, spleen, and intestine, suggesting that its product is involved in mitotic and meiotic recombination in addition to DNA repair.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbial Genetics, Osaka University, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yoshimura
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Murata
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Matsushiro
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D008741:Methyl Methanesulfonate / Q000494:pharmacology; D051379:Mice / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D051135:Rad51 Recombinase; D011938:Rec A Recombinases / Q000235:genetics*; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D008741:Methyl Methanesulfonate; C495151:RAD51 protein, S cerevisiae; D051135:Rad51 Recombinase; C495154:Rad51 protein, mouse; D011938:Rec A Recombinases