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J L Stachelek

Publications and source records attributed to J L Stachelek.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1988

Accuracy of intrachromosomal gene conversion in mouse cells.

Results of several recent studies suggest that homologous recombination and related processes in mammalian cells are highly mutagenic. We have examined the products of intrachromosomal gene conversion events that encompassed the last intron of the chicken thymidine kinase gene. Following plasmid rescue and DNA sequencing, we find no mutations associated with twenty conversion events representing 5380 total base pairs of which 2414 base pairs are intron sequence. Based on these studies we conclude that intrachromosomal gene conversion in mouse cells is not a highly mutagenic process but rather it operates with fidelity.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Homology requirement for efficient gene conversion between duplicated chromosomal sequences in mammalian cells.

We report experiments designed to test homology dependence for gene conversion between duplicated chromosomal sequences in cultured mammalian cells. The experimental system is such that gene conversion events not associated with reciprocal exchange are recoverable. For this study four plasmids were constructed. Each contains a different duplication of the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSV tk) gene sequence. In particular, the interacting sequences share different lengths of homology. Our results indicate that for shared homologies between 295 base pairs (bp) and 1.8 kilobase pairs (kbp) in length, conversion is efficient with the rate being directly proportional to the extent of homology. In contrast, conversion with either 200 bp or 95 bp of homology is inefficient, and the rate is reduced at least seven- or 100-fold, respectively, relative to that observed with 295 bp of homology. These results are consistent with the notion that greater than 200 bp of homology are required for efficient gene conversion between repeated chromosomal sequences in mammalian cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Information transfer between duplicated chromosomal sequences in mammalian cells involves contiguous regions of DNA.

We have investigated the nature of information transfer that appears to occur nonreciprocally between duplicated chromosomal sequences in cultured mouse L cells. We have studied gene conversion between two different defective thymidine kinase genes derived from two closely related strains of type 1 herpes simplex virus and that share a silent restriction site polymorphism. Our results demonstrate that this silent site can be coconverted along with the selected mutant sites. The findings are consistent with a mechanism of gene conversion that involves contiguous blocks of DNA differing in length, position, or both. An additional finding is that the products of coconversion events involving the silent site are unequally recovered although the rates of conversion observed at four different selected sites are similar.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Evidence for intrachromosomal gene conversion in cultured mouse cells.

In this report we present an experimental scheme that facilitates the study of homologous recombination between closely linked genes in cultured mammalian cells. Two different Xho I linker insertion mutants of the herpes simplex virus type 1 thymidine kinase (HTK) gene were introduced into mouse LTK- cells as direct repeats on a plasmid carrying a dominant selectable marker. Following stabilization of these sequences in the recipient cell, selection for TK+ was applied to detect recombinational events between different TK- genes. TK+ segregants were observed at a frequency of 10(-4)-10(-5) in lines harboring both mutant genes. Control lines carrying only one type of mutant HTK gene yielded TK+ cells at frequencies of 10(-7) or less. Physical analysis of the TK+ segregants has revealed the presence of an apparently normal HTK gene that is resistant to Xho l endonuclease digestion in each TK+ line examined. Analyses of the TK gene pairs before and after recombination suggest that at least 50% of the recombinants are the result of nonreciprocal exchanges of genetic information, or gene conversion events.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Novel use of synthetic oligonucleotide insertion mutants for the study of homologous recombination in mammalian cells.

Thymidine kinase-deficient mouse L cells have been transformed with plasmid DNAs carrying 8-base-pair Xho I linker insertion mutations in the coding region of the herpes simplex virus type 1 thymidine kinase gene. When the mutant plasmids are introduced individually into LTK- cells, transformation efficiencies are greatly reduced relative to the wild type. However, when two mutant plasmids are cotransferred into the same LTK- recipients, significantly higher frequencies of transformation are observed (30-300 times). Here we demonstrate the usefulness of linker insertions for the study of homologous recombination in detecting the existence of normal thymidine kinase gene sequences (i.e., sequences lacking the insertions after recombination are substantiated by DNA . DNA hybridization). In addition, the frequencies of recombination in the various "crosses" are consistent with the known positions of the mutations.

Animals↗