title: Characterization of Drosophila Rad51/SpnA protein in DNA binding and embryonic development.
abstract: The Rad51 is a highly conserved protein throughout the eukaryotic kingdom and an essential enzyme in DNA repair and recombination. It possesses DNA binding activity and ATPase activity, and interacts with meiotic chromosomes during prophase I of meiosis. Drosophila Rad51, Spindle-A (SpnA) protein has been shown to be involved in repair of DNA damage in somatic cells and meiotic recombination in female germ cells. In this study, DNA binding activity of SpnA is demonstrated by both agarose gel mobility shift assay and restriction enzyme protection assay. SpnA is also shown to interact with meiotic chromosomes during prophase I in the primary spermatocytes of hsp26-spnA transgenic flies. In addition, SpnA is highly expressed in embryos, and the depletion of SpnA by RNA interference (RNAi) leads to embryonic lethality implying that SpnA is involved in early embryonic development. Therefore, these results suggest that Drosophila SpnA protein possesses properties similar to mammalian Rad51 homologs.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biochemical Genetics, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Building 10, Room 7N321, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. yoos@nhlbi.nih.gov
authors.forename: Siuk
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004330:Drosophila / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D047108:Embryonic Development; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D034622:RNA Interference; D051135:Rad51 Recombinase / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D051135:Rad51 Recombinase; C495149:spn-A protein, Drosophila