title: In planta somatic homologous recombination assay revisited: a successful and versatile, but delicate tool.
abstract: Marker-transgene-dependent lines of Arabidopsis thaliana measuring somatic homologous recombination (SHR) have been available for almost two decades. Here we discuss mechanisms of marker-gene restoration, comment on results obtained using the reporter lines, and stress how caution must be applied to avoid experimental problems or false interpretation in the use of SHR reporter lines. Although theoretically possible, we conclude that explanations other than SHR are unlikely to account for restoration of marker gene expression in the SHR lines when used with appropriate controls. We provide an overview of some of the most important achievements obtained with the SHR lines, give our view of the limitations of the system, and supply the reader with suggestions on the proper handling of the SHR lines. We are convinced that SHR lines are and will remain in the near future a valuable tool to explore the mechanism and influence of external and internal factors on genome stability and DNA repair in plants.
authors.affiliation: Botanical Institute II, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany. Holger.Puchta@kit.edu
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Puchta
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hohn
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D001681:Biological Assay / Q000379:methods*; D004260:DNA Repair; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D042822:Genomic Instability / Q000235:genetics*; D005966:Glucuronidase; D059765:Homologous Recombination / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010944:Plants / Q000235:genetics*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013269:Stochastic Processes; D019076:Transgenes
chemical_list: D005966:Glucuronidase