title: Chromatin loops, illegitimate recombination, and genome evolution.
abstract: Chromosomal rearrangements frequently occur at specific places ("hot spots") in the genome. These recombination hot spots are usually separated by 50-100 kb regions of DNA that are rarely involved in rearrangements. It is quite likely that there is a correlation between the above-mentioned distances and the average size of DNA loops fixed at the nuclear matrix. Recent studies have demonstrated that DNA loop anchorage regions can be fairly long and can harbor DNA recombination hot spots. We previously proposed that chromosomal DNA loops may constitute the basic units of genome organization in higher eukaryotes. In this review, we consider recombination between DNA loop anchorage regions as a possible source of genome evolution.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Structural and Functional Organization of Chromosomes, Institute of Gene Biology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: Omar L
authors.initials: OL
authors.lastname: Kantidze
authors.forename: Sergey V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Razin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002843:Chromatin / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics*; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004250:DNA Topoisomerases, Type II / Q000378:metabolism; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D016678:Genome / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D011995:Recombination, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D002843:Chromatin; D004247:DNA; D004250:DNA Topoisomerases, Type II