The role of heteroduplex correction in gene conversion in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (original) (raw)

Nature volume 328, pages 362–364 (1987)Cite this article

Abstract

Two different models have been proposed to explain the relative frequencies of the non-mendelian allelic segregations which are detected by tetrad analysis after meiosis in fungi1–7. The first model maintains that 6:2 type tetrads result from correction of heteroduplexes containing mismatched sites and 5:3 type tetrads result from failure to correct mismatched sites. The second model suggests that 6:2 segregations result from the filling-in of double-strand gaps using information obtained from both strands of a homologous duplex. In this model 5:3 type tetrads result if the allele is included in the heteroduplex regions flanking the gap and the resulting mismatched nucleotides are not corrected7. We have studied the correction of heteroduplex plasmid DNA in pms1 mutant strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which are known to exhibit higher frequencies of 5:3 type tetrads and lower frequencies of 6:2 tetrads than wild-type strains. Our results suggest that the pms1 mutation causes a defect in mismatch correction, supporting the hypothesis that meiotic gene conversion in wild-type yeast cells often results from the correction of heteroduplex DNA.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, USA
    Douglas K. Bishop & Richard D. Kolodner
  2. Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, USA
    Douglas K. Bishop
  3. Department of Genetics, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720, USA
    Marsha S. Williamson & Seymour Fogel
  4. Department of Biological Chemistry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, USA
    Richard D. Kolodner

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  1. To whom correspondence should be addressed.

    • Richard D. Kolodner

Authors

  1. Douglas K. Bishop
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  2. Marsha S. Williamson
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  3. Seymour Fogel
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  4. Richard D. Kolodner
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Bishop, D., Williamson, M., Fogel, S. et al. The role of heteroduplex correction in gene conversion in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.Nature 328, 362–364 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1038/328362a0

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