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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Rad51 protein from the thermotolerant yeast Pichia angusta as a typical but thermodependent member of the Rad51 family.

The Rad51 protein from the methylotrophic yeast Pichia angusta (Rad51(Pa)) of the taxonomic complex Hansenula polymorpha is a homolog of the RecA-RadA-Rad51 protein superfamily, which promotes homologous recombination and recombination repair in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. We cloned the RAD51 gene from the cDNA library of the thermotolerant P. angusta strain BKM Y1397. Induction of this gene in a rad51-deficient Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain partially complemented the survival rate after ionizing radiation. Purified Rad51(Pa) protein exhibited properties typical of the superfamily, including the stoichiometry of binding to single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) (one protomer of Rad51(Pa) per 3 nucleotides) and DNA specificity for ssDNA-dependent ATP hydrolysis [poly(dC) > poly(dT) > phiX174 ssDNA > poly(dA) > double-stranded M13 DNA]. An inefficient ATPase and very low cooperativity for ATP interaction position Rad51(Pa) closer to Rad51 than to RecA. Judging by thermoinactivation, Rad51(Pa) alone was 20-fold more thermostable at 37 degrees C than its S. cerevisiae homolog (Rad51(Sc)). Moreover, it maintained ssDNA-dependent ATPase and DNA transferase activities up to 52 to 54 degrees C, whereas Rad51(Sc) was completely inactive at 47 degrees C. A quick nucleation and an efficient final-product formation in the strand exchange reaction promoted by Rad51(Pa) occurred only at temperatures above 42 degrees C. These reaction characteristics suggest that Rad51(Pa) is dependent on high temperatures for activity.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

PubMed2003

Full-length archaeal Rad51 structure and mutants: mechanisms for RAD51 assembly and control by BRCA2.

To clarify RAD51 interactions controlling homologous recombination, we report here the crystal structure of the full-length RAD51 homolog from Pyrococcus furiosus. The structure reveals how RAD51 proteins assemble into inactive heptameric rings and active DNA-bound filaments matching three-dimensional electron microscopy reconstructions. A polymerization motif (RAD51-PM) tethers individual subunits together to form assemblies. Subunit interactions support an allosteric 'switch' promoting ATPase activity and DNA binding roles for the N-terminal domain helix-hairpin-helix (HhH) motif. Structural and mutational results characterize RAD51 interactions with the breast cancer susceptibility protein BRCA2 in higher eukaryotes. A designed P.furiosus RAD51 mutant binds BRC repeats and forms BRCA2-dependent nuclear foci in human cells in response to gamma-irradiation-induced DNA damage, similar to human RAD51. These results show that BRCA2 repeats mimic the RAD51-PM and imply analogous RAD51 interactions with RAD52 and RAD54. Both BRCA2 and RAD54 may act as antagonists and chaperones for RAD51 filament assembly by coupling RAD51 interface exchanges with DNA binding. Together, these structural and mutational results support an interface exchange hypothesis for coordinated protein interactions in homologous recombination.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

PubMed2005

Ionizing radiation-induced foci formation of mammalian Rad51 and Rad54 depends on the Rad51 paralogs, but not on Rad52.

Homologous recombination is of major importance for the prevention of genomic instability during chromosome duplication and repair of DNA damage, especially double-strand breaks. Biochemical experiments have revealed that during the process of homologous recombination the RAD52 group proteins, including Rad51, Rad52 and Rad54, are involved in an essential step: formation of a joint molecule between the broken DNA and the intact repair template. Accessory proteins for this reaction include the Rad51 paralogs and BRCA2. The significance of homologous recombination for the cell is underscored by the evolutionary conservation of the Rad51, Rad52 and Rad54 proteins from yeast to humans. Upon treatment of cells with ionizing radiation, the RAD52 group proteins accumulate at the sites of DNA damage into so-called foci. For the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, foci formation of Rad51 and Rad54 is abrogated in the absence of Rad52, while Rad51 foci formation does occur in the absence of the Rad51 paralog Rad55. By contrast, we show here that in mammalian cells, Rad52 is not required for foci formation of Rad51 and Rad54. Furthermore, radiation-induced foci formation of Rad51 and Rad54 is impaired in all Rad51 paralog and BRCA2 mutant cell lines tested, while Rad52 foci formation is not influenced by a mutation in any of these recombination proteins. Despite their evolutionary conservation and biochemical similarities, S. cerevisiae and mammalian Rad52 appear to differentially contribute to the DNA-damage response.

Animals↗

PubMed1998

Interaction of Rad51 with ATP and Mg2+ induces a conformational change in Rad51.

The presumptive first step in the Rad51-promoted formation of joint molecules is binding of the protein to ssDNA in the presence of ATP and Mg2+. In this paper, we report that Rad51's ability to bind DNA is rapidly inactivated when incubated at 30-37 degrees C but is stabilized by the presence of ATP and Mg2+. Although unable to promote binding to DNA, ATP-gamma-S also prevents inactivation of Rad51 at 37 degrees C. AMP-P-N-P lacks this property, while ADP protects partially but only at 5-10 times higher concentrations than ATP. These observations correlate with the dissociation constant of those nucleotides for Rad51 determined by equilibrium dialysis. Rad51 binds ATP and ATP-gamma-S with a 1:1 stoichiometry and Kds of 21 and 19 microM, respectively. The presence of DNA significantly increases the affinity of Rad51 for ATP, while DNA has a smaller effect on the affinity of ATP-gamma-S. Competition binding studies show that ADP and AMP-P-N-P bind with a 5- and 55-fold lower affinity, respectively, than ATP. The CD spectrum of Rad51 with negative double minima at around 210 and 222 nm is characteristic of an alpha-helical protein. Upon binding ATP and Mg2+, the CD spectrum is altered in the regions 194-208 and 208-235 nm, changes that are indicative of a more structured state; this change does not occur with Rad51 that has been inactivated at 37 degrees C. We surmise that the active conformation is more resistant to inactivation at elevated temperature. Our data suggest that one of the roles of ATP and Mg2+ in Rad51-mediated strand exchange is to induce the proper protein structure for binding the two DNA substrates.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

PubMed2005

RAD51-dependent break-induced replication differs in kinetics and checkpoint responses from RAD51-mediated gene conversion.

Diploid Saccharomyces cells experiencing a double-strand break (DSB) on one homologous chromosome repair the break by RAD51-mediated gene conversion >98% of the time. However, when extensive homologous sequences are restricted to one side of the DSB, repair can occur by both RAD51-dependent and RAD51-independent break-induced replication (BIR) mechanisms. Here we characterize the kinetics and checkpoint dependence of RAD51-dependent BIR when the DSB is created within a chromosome. Gene conversion products appear within 2 h, and there is little, if any, induction of the DNA damage checkpoint; however, RAD51-dependent BIR occurs with a further delay of 2 to 4 h and cells arrest in response to the G(2)/M DNA damage checkpoint. RAD51-dependent BIR does not require special facilitating sequences that are required for a less efficient RAD51-independent process. RAD51-dependent BIR occurs efficiently in G(2)-arrested cells. Once repair is initiated, the rate of repair replication during BIR is comparable to that of normal DNA replication, as copying of >100 kb is completed less than 30 min after repair DNA synthesis is detected close to the DSB.

Cell Cycle↗

PubMed1997

Nuclear Rad51 foci induced by DNA damage are distinct from Rad51 foci associated with B cell activation and recombination.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a B cell mitogen which can stimulate murine primary B cells to proliferate and carry out immunoglobulin heavy chain class switch recombination. LPS can also function as an endotoxin, which may cause DNA damage and apoptosis in certain types of cells. We have previously reported that LPS-activated primary murine B cells contain nuclear foci that stain brightly with anti-Rad51 antibodies (Li et al. (1996) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 93, 10222-10227). We have now analyzed Rad51 nuclear foci induced in both primary and immortalized B cells by treatment with the DNA damaging agent, methyl methanesulfonate (MMS). We have found that, in LPS-cultured primary B cells, MMS treatment increases the fraction of cells containing Rad51 foci and induces formation of a very high number of foci per cell. The foci induced by MMS treatment are small, punctate, and numerous; in contrast, the foci induced by LPS activation are large, brightly staining, and relatively few in number. In LPS-cultured primary B cells, Rad51 relocalizes during the cell cycle, and large, brightly staining nuclear foci are present in only restricted stages of the cell cycle. Rad51 foci similar to those present in LPS-activated primary B cells are also observed in immortalized B cells lines cultured in the absence of LPS. These foci are unaltered in number or appearance by culture with LPS, but treatment of immortalized B cell lines with MMS induces foci which are small and punctate in staining, like those induced by MMS in primary B cells. These data show that distinctive Rad51 foci are induced by DNA damaging agents and cell activation and that the response to DNA damage may involve pathways distinct from those associated with B cell activation and switch recombination.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Mutations in yeast Rad51 that partially bypass the requirement for Rad55 and Rad57 in DNA repair by increasing the stability of Rad51-DNA complexes.

Yeast Rad51 promotes homologous pairing and strand exchange in vitro, but this activity is inefficient in the absence of the accessory proteins, RPA, Rad52, Rad54 and the Rad55-Rad57 heterodimer. A class of rad51 alleles was isolated that suppresses the requirement for RAD55 and RAD57 in DNA repair, but not the other accessory factors. Five of the six mutations isolated map to the region of Rad51 that by modeling with RecA corresponds to one of the DNA-binding sites. The other mutation is in the N-terminus of Rad51 in a domain implicated in protein-protein interactions and DNA binding. The Rad51-I345T mutant protein shows increased binding to single- and double-stranded DNA, and is proficient in displacement of replication protein A (RPA) from single-stranded DNA, suggesting that the normal function of Rad55-Rad57 is promotion and stabilization of Rad51-ssDNA complexes.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

PubMed2003

Overexpression of mammalian Rad51 does not stimulate tumorigenesis while a dominant-negative Rad51 affects centrosome fragmentation, ploidy and stimulates tumorigenesis, in p53-defective CHO cells.

Rad51 protein plays a pivotal role in homologous recombination (HR), which is involved in double-strand break repair and in genome maintenance. Despite interactions with tumor suppressor proteins, the role of mammalian Rad51 and more generally of HR in tumor prevention is not clearly established. Indeed, both high and low frequencies of HR as well as high and low levels of RAD51 expression have been reported in tumors and in precancerous conditions. To address the question of the impact of HR on tumorigenesis, we used Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) p53-defective cell lines overexpressing the mouse MmRAD51, which stimulates HR (we name these lines: Hyper-rec lines). In parallel, we used CHO cell lines expressing a RAD51 dominant-negative form that specifically inhibits gene conversion without affecting cell viability (Hypo-rec lines). These different lines were injected into nude mice to measure their tumorigenicity. Hypo-rec lines generated a higher frequency of tumors, which also exhibited faster growth, compared to control and Hyper-rec lines. Consistent with tumorigenicity, Hypo-rec cells exhibit spontaneous centrosome duplication defects and aneuploidy. These results are the first direct evidence of involvement of RAD51 in tumor repression.

Aneuploidy↗

PubMed2006

Yeast recombination factor Rdh54 functionally interacts with the Rad51 recombinase and catalyzes Rad51 removal from DNA.

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae RDH54-encoded product, a member of the Swi2/Snf2 protein family, is needed for mitotic and meiotic interhomologue recombination and DNA repair. Previous biochemical studies employing Rdh54 purified from yeast cells have shown DNA-dependent ATP hydrolysis and DNA supercoiling by this protein, indicative of a DNA translocase function. Importantly, Rdh54 physically interacts with the Rad51 recombinase and promotes D-loop formation by the latter. Unfortunately, the low yield of Rdh54 from the yeast expression system has greatly hampered the progress on defining the functional interactions of this Swi2/Snf2-like factor with Rad51. Here we describe an E. coli expression system and purification scheme that together provide milligram quantities of nearly homogeneous Rdh54. Using this material, we demonstrate that Rdh54-mediated DNA supercoiling leads to transient DNA strand opening. Furthermore, at the expense of ATP hydrolysis, Rdh54 removes Rad51 from DNA. We furnish evidence that the Rad51 binding domain resides within the N terminus of Rdh54. Accordingly, N-terminal truncation mutants of Rdh54 that fail to bind Rad51 are also impaired for functional interactions with the latter. Interestingly, the rdh54 K352R mutation that ablates ATPase activity engenders a DNA repair defect even more severe than that seen in the rdh54Delta mutant. These results provide molecular information concerning the role of Rdh54 in homologous recombination and DNA repair, and they also demonstrate the functional significance of Rdh54.Rad51 complex formation. The Rdh54 expression and purification procedures described here should facilitate the functional dissection of this DNA recombination/repair factor.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

PubMed2003

Altered nuclear distribution of recombination protein RAD51 in maize mutants suggests the involvement of RAD51 in meiotic homology recognition.

The recombination protein RAD51 is a component of the meiotic recombination pathway and has been proposed to play a role in the homology search, a process by which homologous chromosomes find each other before they pair in the prophase of meiosis. To study the relationship between recombination and chromosome pairing, we examined the distribution of RAD51 foci on meiotic chromosomes in maize mutants with defects in chromosome pairing. The patterns of RAD51 distribution showed dramatic variation among the meiotic mutants. The mutants generally exhibited significant decreases in the number of RAD51 foci at zygotene, corresponding to the degree of their pairing defects. These results provide evidence for a key role of RAD51 structures in the homology search.

Cell Nucleus↗

PubMed2001

XRCC2 is a nuclear RAD51-like protein required for damage-dependent RAD51 focus formation without the need for ATP binding.

The human XRCC2 gene was recently identified by its ability to complement a hamster cell line, irs1, which is sensitive to DNA-damaging agents and shows genetic instability. The XRCC2 protein is highly conserved in mammalian species and has structural features, including a putative ATP-binding domain (P-loop), consistent with membership of the RecA/RAD51 family of recombination-repair proteins. We show that a hybrid XRCC2-green fluorescent protein, which was found to be functional by complementation, localizes to the nucleus. We have established a functional link between XRCC2 and RAD51 by looking at damage-dependent RAD51 focus formation in the irs1 cell line. Little or no formation of RAD51 foci occurred in irs1. This effect was specific to the loss of XRCC2 because transfection of the gene into irs1 restored normal levels of focus formation. Surprisingly, XRCC2 genes carrying site-specific mutations in P-loop residues were found to be able to complement the XRCC2-deficient irs1 line for a number of different end points. We conclude that XRCC2 is important in the early stages of homologous recombination in mammalian cells to facilitate RAD51-dependent recombination repair but that it does not make use of ATP binding to promote this function.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

PubMed2005

Similar effects of Brca2 truncation and Rad51 paralog deficiency on immunoglobulin V gene diversification in DT40 cells support an early role for Rad51 paralogs in homologous recombination.

BRCA2 is a tumor suppressor gene that is linked to hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. Although the Brca2 protein participates in homologous DNA recombination (HR), its precise role remains unclear. From chicken DT40 cells, we generated BRCA2 gene-deficient cells which harbor a truncation at the 3' end of the BRC3 repeat (brca2tr). Comparison of the characteristics of brca2tr cells with those of other HR-deficient DT40 clones revealed marked similarities with rad51 paralog mutants (rad51b, rad51c, rad51d, xrcc2, or xrcc3 cells). The phenotypic similarities include a shift from HR-mediated diversification to single-nucleotide substitutions in the immunoglobulin variable gene segment and the partial reversion of this shift by overexpression of Rad51. Although recent evidence supports at least Xrcc3 and Rad51C playing a role late in HR, our data suggest that Brca2 and the Rad51 paralogs may also contribute to HR at the same early step, with their loss resulting in the stimulation of an alternative, error-prone repair pathway.

Animals↗

PubMed1994

Homotypic and heterotypic protein associations control Rad51 function in double-strand break repair.

Rad51 is essential for efficient repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and recombination in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here, we examine Rad51 protein-protein interactions and their biological significance. GAL4 two-hybrid fusion analysis demonstrated that the amino-terminal region of Rad51 mediates both a strong Rad51:Rad51 self-association and a Rad51:Rad52 interaction. Several Rad51 variants were characterized that imparted DSB repair defects; these defects appear to result from Rad51 protein-protein interactions. First, a rad51 allele bearing a missense mutation in the consensus ATP-binding sequence disrupted DSB repair in wild-type yeast. The effect of this allele was dependent on the presence of wild-type Rad51 because MMS sensitivity of rad51 delta strains were not increased by its expression. Second, we identified a highly conserved RAD51 homolog from Kluyveromyces lactis (KlRAD51) that only partially complemented rad51 delta strains and impaired DSB repair in wild-type S. cerevisiae. Third, fusions of Gal4 domains to Rad51 disrupted DSB repair in a manner that required the presence of either Rad51 or Rad52. Because K. lactis RAD51 and RAD52 did not complement a S. cerevisiae rad51 delta rad52 delta strain, Rad51-Rad52 functions appear to be mediated through additional components. Thus, multiple types of Rad51 protein interactions, including self-association, appear to be important for DSB repair.

Alleles↗

PubMed2005

Overexpression of Rad51 inhibits double-strand break-induced homologous recombination but does not affect gene conversion tract lengths.

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) in yeast are repaired by homologous recombination (HR) and non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ). Rad51 forms nucleoprotein filaments at processed broken ends that effect strand exchange, forming heteroduplex DNA (hDNA) that gives rise to a gene conversion tract. We hypothesized that excess Rad51 would increase gene conversion tract lengths. We found that excess Rad51 reduced DSB-induced HR but did not alter tract lengths or other outcomes including rates of crossovers, break-induced replication, or chromosome loss. Thus, excess Rad51 appears to influence DSB-induced HR at an early stage. MAT heterozygosity largely mitigated the inhibitory effect of excess Rad51 on allelic HR, but not direct repeat HR. Excess Rad52 had no effect on DSB-induced HR efficiency or outcome, nor did it mitigate the dominant negative effects of excess Rad51. Excess Rad51 had little effect on DSB-induced lethality in wild-type cells, but it did enhance lethality in yku70Delta mutants. Interestingly, dnl4Delta showed marked DSB-induced lethality but this was not further enhanced by excess Rad51. The differential effects of yku70Delta and dnl4Delta indicate that the enhanced killing with excess Rad51 in yku70Delta is not due to its NHEJ defect, but may reflect its defect in end-protection and/or its inability to escape from checkpoint arrest. Srs2 displaces Rad51 from nucleoprotein filaments in vitro, suggesting that excess Rad51 might antagonize Srs2. We show that excess Rad51 does not reduce survival of wild-type cells treated with methylmethane sulfonate (MMS), or cells suffering a single DSB. In contrast, excess Rad51 sensitized srs2Delta cells to both MMS and a single DSB. These results support the idea that excess Rad51 antagonizes Srs2, and underscores the importance of displacing Rad51 from nucleoprotein filaments to achieve optimum repair efficiency.

Cell Survival↗

PubMed2005

BRCA2 BRC motifs bind RAD51-DNA filaments.

Germ-line mutations in BRCA2 account for approximately half the cases of autosomal dominant familial breast cancers. BRCA2 has been shown to interact directly with RAD51, an essential component of the cellular machinery for homologous recombination and the maintenance of genome stability. Interactions between BRCA2 and RAD51 take place by means of the conserved BRC repeat regions of BRCA2. Previously, it was shown that peptides corresponding to BRC3 or BRC4 bind RAD51 monomers and block RAD51-DNA filament formation. In this work, we further analyze these interactions and find that at lower molar ratios BRC3 or BRC4 actually bind and form stable complexes with RAD51-DNA nucleoprotein filaments. Only at high concentrations of the BRC repeats are filaments disrupted. The specific protein-protein contacts occur in the RAD51 filament by means of the N-terminal domain of RAD51 for BRC3 and the nucleotide-binding core of RAD51 for BRC4. These observations show that the BRC repeats bind distinct regions of RAD51 and are nonequivalent in their mode of interaction. The results provide insight into why mutation in just one of the eight BRC repeats would affect the way that BRCA2 protein interacts with the RAD51 filament. Disruption of a single RAD51 interaction site, one of several simultaneous interactions occurring throughout the BRC repeat-containing exon 11 of BRCA2, might modulate the ability of RAD51 to promote recombinational repair and lead to an increased risk of breast cancer.

BRCA2 Protein↗

PubMed2001

Potential role for the BLM helicase in recombinational repair via a conserved interaction with RAD51.

Bloom's syndrome (BS) is an autosomal recessive disorder that predisposes individuals to a wide range of cancers. The gene mutated in BS, BLM, encodes a member of the RecQ family of DNA helicases. The precise role played by these enzymes in the cell remains to be determined. However, genome-wide hyper-recombination is a feature of many RecQ helicase-deficient cells. In eukaryotes, a central step in homologous recombination is catalyzed by the RAD51 protein. In response to agents that induce DNA double-strand breaks, RAD51 accumulates in nuclear foci that are thought to correspond to sites of recombinational repair. Here, we report that purified BLM and human RAD51 interact in vitro and in vivo, and that residues in the N- and C-terminal domains of BLM can independently mediate this interaction. Consistent with these observations, BLM localizes to a subset of RAD51 nuclear foci in normal human cells. Moreover, the number of BLM foci and the extent to which BLM and RAD51 foci co-localize increase in response to ionizing radiation. Nevertheless, the formation of RAD51 foci does not require functional BLM. Indeed, in untreated BS cells, an abnormally high proportion of the cells contain RAD51 nuclear foci. Exogenous expression of BLM markedly reduces the fraction of cells containing RAD51 foci. The interaction between BLM and RAD51 appears to have been evolutionarily conserved since the C-terminal domain of Sgs1, the Saccharomyces cerevisiae homologue of BLM, interacts with yeast Rad51. Furthermore, genetic analysis reveals that the SGS1 and RAD51 genes are epistatic indicating that they operate in a common pathway. Potential roles for BLM in the RAD51 recombinational repair pathway are discussed.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

PubMed2006

Variation in the RAD51 gene and familial breast cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Human RAD51 is a homologue of the Escherichia coli RecA protein and is known to function in recombinational repair of double-stranded DNA breaks. Mutations in the lower eukaryotic homologues of RAD51 result in a deficiency in the repair of double-stranded DNA breaks. Loss of RAD51 function would therefore be expected to result in an elevated mutation rate, leading to accumulation of DNA damage and, hence, to increased cancer risk. RAD51 interacts directly or indirectly with a number of proteins implicated in breast cancer, such as BRCA1 and BRCA2. Similar to BRCA1 mice, RAD51-/- mice are embryonic lethal. The RAD51 gene region has been shown to exhibit loss of heterozygosity in breast tumours, and deregulated RAD51 expression in breast cancer patients has also been reported. Few studies have investigated the role of coding region variation in the RAD51 gene in familial breast cancer, with only one coding region variant--exon 6 c.449G>A (p.R150Q)--reported to date. METHODS: All nine coding exons of the RAD51 gene were analysed for variation in 46 well-characterised, BRCA1/2-negative breast cancer families using denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography. Genotyping of the exon 6 p.R150Q variant was performed in an additional 66 families. Additionally, lymphoblastoid cell lines from breast cancer patients were subjected to single nucleotide primer extension analysis to assess RAD51 expression. RESULTS: No coding region variation was found, and all intronic variation detected was either found in unaffected controls or was unlikely to have functional consequences. Single nucleotide primer extension analysis did not reveal any allele-specific changes in RAD51 expression in all lymphoblastoid cell lines tested. CONCLUSION: Our study indicates that RAD51 is not a major familial breast cancer predisposition gene.

Adult↗

PubMed1995

Dynamic changes in Rad51 distribution on chromatin during meiosis in male and female vertebrates.

Antibodies against human Rad51 protein were used to examine the distribution of Rad51 on meiotic chromatin in mouse spermatocytes and oocytes as well as chicken oocytes during sequential stages of meiosis. We observed the following dynamic changes in distribution of Rad51 during meiosis: (1) in early leptotene nuclei there are multiple, apparently randomly distributed, foci that by late leptonema become organized into tracks of foci. (2) These foci persist into zygonema, but most foci are now localized on Rad51-positive axes that correspond to lateral elements of the synaptonemal complex. As homologs synapse foci from homologous axes fuse. The distribution and involvement of Rad51 foci as contact points between homologs suggest that they may be components to early recombination nodules. (3) As pachynema progresses the number of foci drops dramatically; the temporal occurrence (mice) and physical and numerical distribution of foci on axes (chickens) suggest that they may be a component of late recombination nodules. (4) In early pachynema there are numerous Rad51 foci on the single axis of the X (mouse spermatocytes) or the Z (chicken oocytes) chromosomes that neither pair, nor recombine. (5) In late pachynema in mouse spermatocytes, but not oocytes, the Rad51 signal is preferentially enhanced at both ends of all the bivalents. As bivalents in spermatocytes, but not oocytes, begin to desynapse at diplonema they are often held together at these Rad51-positive termini. These observations parallel observations that recombination rates are exceptionally high near chromosome ends in male but not female eutherian mammals. (6) From diakinesis through metaphase I, Rad51 protein is detected as low-intensity fluorescent doublets that localize with CREST-specific antigens (kinetochores), suggesting that Rad51 participates, at least as a structural component of the materials involved, in sister kinetochore cohesiveness. Finally, the changes in Rad51 distribution during meiosis do not appear to be species specific, but intrinsic to the meiotic process.

Animals↗