A novel recombination pathway initiated by the Mre11/Rad50/Nbs1 complex eliminates palindromes during meiosis in Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

ABSTRACT: DNA palindromes are rare in humans but are associated with meiosis-specific translocations. The conserved Mre11/Rad50/Nbs1 (MRN) complex is likely directly involved in processing palindromes through the homologous recombination pathway of DNA repair. Using the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe as a model system, we show that a 160-bp palindrome (M-pal) is a meiotic recombination hotspot and is preferentially eliminated by gene conversion. Importantly, this hotspot depends on the MRN complex for full activity and reveals a new pathway for generating meiotic DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), separately from the Rec12 (ortholog of Spo11) pathway. We show that MRN-dependent DSBs are formed at or near the M-pal in vivo, and in contrast to the Rec12-dependent breaks, they appear early, duri

SUBMITTER: Farah JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1449568 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature