title: Mechanism of homologous recombination and implications for aging-related deletions in mitochondrial DNA.
abstract: Homologous recombination is a universal process, conserved from bacteriophage to human, which is important for the repair of double-strand DNA breaks. Recombination in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was documented more than 4 decades ago, but the underlying molecular mechanism has remained elusive. Recent studies have revealed the presence of a Rad52-type recombination system of bacteriophage origin in mitochondria, which operates by a single-strand annealing mechanism independent of the canonical RecA/Rad51-type recombinases. Increasing evidence supports the notion that, like in bacteriophages, mtDNA inheritance is a coordinated interplay between recombination, repair, and replication. These findings could have profound implications for understanding the mechanism of mtDNA inheritance and the generation of mtDNA deletions in aging cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York, USA. chenx@upstate.edu
authors.forename: Xin Jie
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D059765:Homologous Recombination / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D051135:Rad51 Recombinase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051721:Rad52 DNA Repair and Recombination Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011938:Rec A Recombinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D051721:Rad52 DNA Repair and Recombination Protein; D051135:Rad51 Recombinase; D011938:Rec A Recombinases