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An SMC‐like protein is required for efficient homologous recombination in Arabidopsis
Author(s) -
Mengiste Tesfaye,
Revenkova Ekaterina,
Bechtold Nicole,
Paszkowski Jerzy
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
the embo journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.484
H-Index - 392
eISSN - 1460-2075
pISSN - 0261-4189
DOI - 10.1093/emboj/18.16.4505
Subject(s) - biology , homologous recombination , extrachromosomal dna , chromatin , methyl methanesulfonate , arabidopsis , dna repair , genetics , rad52 , flp frt recombination , ectopic recombination , mutant , dna , gene , genetic recombination , recombination , rad51 , plasmid
In plants, the observed low frequency of gene targeting and intrachromosomal recombination contrasts markedly with the efficient extrachromosomal recombination of DNA. Thus, chromatin accessibility can have a major influence on the recombination frequency of chromosomal DNA in vivo . An Arabidopsis mutant hypersensitive to a range of DNA‐damaging treatments (UV‐C, X‐rays, methyl methanesulfonate and mitomycin C) is also defective in somatic intrachromosomal homologous recombination. The wild‐type gene encodes a protein closely related to the s tructural m aintenance of c hromosomes (SMC) family involved in structural changes in chromosomes. Although loss of SMC function is lethal in other eukaryotes, growth of the Arabidopsis mutant is normal in the absence of genotoxic treatments. This suggests a surprisingly specialized function for this protein in plants, and provides the first in vivo evidence for the involvement of an SMC protein in recombinational DNA repair. It is possible that SMC‐like proteins in plants alleviate suppressive chromatin structure limiting homologous recombination in somatic cells.