title: RadA protein is an archaeal RecA protein homolog that catalyzes DNA strand exchange.
abstract: With the discovery that the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Rad51 protein is both structurally and functionally similar to the Escherichia coli RecA protein, the RecA paradigm for homologous recombination was extended to the Eucarya. The ubiquitous presence of RecA and Rad51 protein homologs raises the question of whether this archetypal protein exists within the third domain of life, the Archaea. Here we present the isolation of a Rad51/RecA protein homolog from the archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus, and show that this protein, RadA, possesses the characteristics of a DNA strand exchange protein: The RadA protein is a DNA-dependent ATPase, forms a nucleoprotein filament on DNA, and catalyzes DNA pairing and strand exchange.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biological Sciences, Section of Microbiology, University of California, Davis, California 95616-8665 USA.
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Seitz
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Brockman
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Sandler
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Kowalczykowski
mesh_terms: D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D019843:Archaeal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004265:DNA Helicases; D019641:DNA, Archaeal / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D019766:Genes, Archaeal; D009698:Nucleoproteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051135:Rad51 Recombinase; D011938:Rec A Recombinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D016944:Sulfolobus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D019843:Archaeal Proteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D019641:DNA, Archaeal; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D009698:Nucleoproteins; C491059:RadA protein, E coli; C117252:RadA protein, archaeal; C100901:RadA protein, bacteria; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D051135:Rad51 Recombinase; D011938:Rec A Recombinases; D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases; D004265:DNA Helicases