The Saccharomyces cerevisiae RAD6 group is composed of an error-prone and two error-free postreplication repair pathways.
The RAD6 postreplication repair and mutagenesis pathway is the only major radiation repair pathway yet to be extensively characterized. It has been previously speculated that the RAD6 pathway consists of two parallel subpathways, one error free and another error prone (mutagenic). Here we show that the RAD6 group genes can be exclusively divided into three rather than two independent subpathways represented by the RAD5, POL30, and REV3 genes; the REV3 pathway is largely mutagenic, whereas the RAD5 and the POL30 pathways are deemed error free. Mutants carrying characteristic mutations in each of the three subpathways are phenotypically indistinguishable from a single mutant such as rad18, which is defective in the entire RAD6 postreplication repair/tolerance pathway. Furthermore, the rad18 mutation is epistatic to all single or combined mutations in any of the above three subpathways. Our data also suggest that MMS2 and UBC13 play a key role in coordinating the response of the error-free subpathways; Mms2 and Ubc13 form a complex required for a novel polyubiquitin chain assembly, which probably serves as a signal transducer to promote both RAD5 and POL30 error-free postreplication repair pathways. The model established by this study will facilitate further research into the molecular mechanisms of postreplication repair and translesion DNA synthesis. In view of the high degree of sequence conservation of the RAD6 pathway genes among all eukaryotes, the model presented in this study may also apply to mammalian cells and predicts links to human diseases.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N 5E5 Canada. xiaow@sask.usask.ca
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D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D004265:DNA Helicases; D004260:DNA Repair / Q000235:genetics*; D004261:DNA Replication; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D008025:Ligases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D008741:Methyl Methanesulfonate; D016296:Mutagenesis; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics*; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D013997:Time Factors; D044763:Ubiquitin-Conjugating Enzymes; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D005656:Fungal Proteins; C112520:MMS2 protein, S cerevisiae; C063607:RAD18 protein, S cerevisiae; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D008741:Methyl Methanesulfonate; C471606:RAD6 protein, S cerevisiae; D044763:Ubiquitin-Conjugating Enzymes; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase; C092602:REV3 protein, S cerevisiae; D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases; C076225:RAD5 protein, S cerevisiae; D004265:DNA Helicases; D008025:Ligases