Separation of recombination and SOS response in Escherichia coli RecA suggests LexA interaction sites.

ABSTRACT: RecA plays a key role in homologous recombination, the induction of the DNA damage response through LexA cleavage and the activity of error-prone polymerase in Escherichia coli. RecA interacts with multiple partners to achieve this pleiotropic role, but the structural location and sequence determinants involved in these multiple interactions remain mostly unknown. Here, in a first application to prokaryotes, Evolutionary Trace (ET) analysis identifies clusters of evolutionarily important surface amino acids involved in RecA functions. Some of these clusters match the known ATP binding, DNA binding, and RecA-RecA homo-dimerization sites, but others are novel. Mutation analysis at these sites disrupted either recombination or LexA cleavage. This highlights distinct functional sites specific

SUBMITTER: Adikesavan AK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3164682 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature