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PMID: 1631148 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

The synapsis event in the homologous pairing of DNAs: RecA recognizes and pairs less than one helical repeat of DNA.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America ·Vol. 89 ·No. 14 ·1992-07-15 ·Pages 6492-6

Hsieh P, Camerini-Otero CS, Camerini-Otero RD

Abstract

A key step in homologous recombination is the alignment and pairing of homologous DNAs. The Escherichia coli RecA protein initiates pairing by binding to single-strand DNA, forming a helical nucleoprotein filament. We demonstrate that in the presence of the nonhydrolyzable ATP analogue adenosine 5'-[gamma-thio]triphosphate and ADP, RecA can pair a homologous oligonucleotide 15 bases long with a duplex DNA to yield synaptic complexes consisting of the oligonucleotide and duplex DNA stabilized by RecA. RecA can pair as few as eight bases of homology to form such synaptic complexes. The homologous DNAs remain paired to each other upon removal of RecA provided that the length of shared homology is at least 26 base pairs. Based on our findings and the work of others, we propose that in vitro, one helical turn of a RecA nucleoprotein filament containing approximately six RecA monomers and 15 bases of single-strand DNA is the functional unit sufficient to carry out the homology search.

MeSH Terms
Base Sequence DNA-Binding Proteins/metabolism Deoxyribonucleoproteins/ultrastructure Escherichia coli/enzymology Macromolecular Substances Molecular Sequence Data Oligodeoxyribonucleotides/metabolism Rec A Recombinases/metabolism Recombination, Genetic Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid Structure-Activity Relationship
Chemicals
DNA-Binding Proteins Deoxyribonucleoproteins Macromolecular Substances Oligodeoxyribonucleotides Rec A Recombinases
Authors & Affiliations
3 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Hsieh P
Genetics and Biochemistry Branch, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892.
Camerini-Otero C S
Camerini-Otero R D
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Article Info
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Abbr.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
ISSN
0027-8424
DOI
10.1073/pnas.89.14.6492
Published
1992-07-15
Pages
6492-6
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
7505876
PMCID
PMC49527
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1073/pnas.89.14.6492 PMC Full Text View journal details
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