title: Evidence against reciprocal recombination as the basis for tuf gene conversion in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium.
abstract: The duplicate tuf genes on the Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium chromosome co-evolve by a RecA-, RecB-dependent gene conversion mechanism. Gene conversion is defined as a non-reciprocal transfer of genetic information. However, in a replicating bacterial chromosome there is a possibility that a reciprocal genetic exchange between different tuf genes sitting on sister chromosomes could result in "apparent" gene conversion. We asked whether the major mechanism of tuf gene conversion was classical or apparent. We devised a genetic selection that allowed us to isolate and examine both expected products from a reciprocal recombination event between the tuf genes. Using this selection we tested within individual cultures for a correlation in the frequency of jackpots as expected if recombination were reciprocal. We found no correlation, either in the frequency of each type of recombinant product, or in the DNA sequences of the products resulting from each recombination event. We conclude that the evidence argues in favor of a non-reciprocal gene conversion mechanism as the basis for tuf gene co-evolution.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Biomedical Center, Box 596, Uppsala University, S-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Ola
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Arwidsson
authors.forename: Diarmaid
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hughes
mesh_terms: D017920:Antiporters / Q000235:genetics; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D005785:Gene Conversion; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000235:genetics*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D017920:Antiporters; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; C075436:EmrE protein, E coli