Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Research Highlight
  • Published:

Mutation rate

DNA repair and indels boost errors

Nature Reviews Genetics volume 11, page 592 (2010)Cite this article

Subjects

This article has been updated

Mitotic gene conversion is a mechanism for repairing DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) in which a homologous sequence (donor) is used as a template for repair. Hicks and colleagues took advantage of the gene conversion that is a normal part of mating-type (MAT) switching in Saccharomyces cerevisiae to screen for errors generated by this repair process. They inserted a gene (URA3) into the normal donor sequence that enabled them to chemically select cells in which mutations had arisen during gene conversion. Strikingly, they found that the mutation rate associated with gene conversion was 1,400 times higher than the rate of spontaneous mutation in the same genomic region.

Hicks et al. showed that the majority of mutations were single-base-pair substitutions, but a high proportion were one-base-pair deletions and complex mutations that are probably caused by template-switching during gene conversion. Surprisingly, the normally high-fidelity DNA polymerase-δ seems to cause these template switches. This finding suggests that gene conversion is less processive than the DNA synthesis that takes place during S phase. Furthermore, the authors suggest that some mutations required for carcinogenesis could result from gene conversion being used to repair the increased numbers of DSBs triggered by activated oncogenes.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Change history

  • 19 August 2010

    In the version of this article initially published online, the doi for the paper by De & Babu was incorrect. This has now been corrected in all versions of the article.

References

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPERS

  1. Hicks, W. M., Kim, M. & Haber, J. E. Increased mutagenesis and unique mutation signature associated with mitotic gene conversion. Science 329, 82–85 (2010)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. De, S. & Babu, M. M. A time-invariant principle of genome evolution. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 6 Jul 2010 (doi:10.1073/pnas.0914454107)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

FURTHER READING

  1. Hastings, P. J. et al. Mechanisms of change in gene copy numbers. Nature Rev. Genet. 10, 551–564 (2009)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Mary Muers
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Muers, M. DNA repair and indels boost errors. Nat Rev Genet 11, 592 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg2848

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg2848

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing