Genetic Recombination Mechanisms in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae

Genetic recombination in Saccharomyces cerevisiae underpins both the faithful repair of DNA damage and the generation of genetic diversity during meiosis. Central to this process is the repair of double-strand breaks through homologous recombination, in which DNA ends are resected to produce 3′ single-stranded overhangs that invade a homologous duplex template. Rad51-mediated filament formation facilitates strand invasion and joint-molecule formation, leading to gene conversion or reciprocal crossovers after resolution by structure-selective nucleases. Alternative pathways, including single-strand annealing and microhomology-mediated end joining, repair lesions between repeated sequences, sometimes at the cost of deletions. Non-homologous end joining provides a template-independent route to rejoin broken ends but can introduce small insertions or deletions. The balance among these pathways is tightly regulated by helicases, checkpoint kinases and ubiquitin-mediated control of recombination factors. In meiosis, programmed Spo11-induced breaks trigger reciprocal exchanges that ensure proper chromosome segregation and spore viability. In mitotic cells, recombination maintains genome integrity under replication stress and oxidative damage. Insights into the molecular choreography of recombination proteins continue to inform applications in strain engineering, genome editing and understanding disease-relevant repair processes.

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Genetic Recombination Mechanisms in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in genetic recombination mechanisms in saccharomyces cerevisiae across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Double-strand break (DSB): A discontinuity affecting both strands of the DNA helix that initiates recombination and repair processes.

Homologous recombination (HR): A high-fidelity repair mechanism using a homologous DNA template to mend DSBs, resulting in gene conversion or crossover.

Gene conversion: The non-reciprocal transfer of genetic information between homologous DNA sequences during recombination.

Single-strand annealing (SSA): A repair pathway that aligns and joins complementary single-stranded regions, often leading to sequence deletions.

Non-homologous end joining (NHEJ): A DSB repair process that directly ligates DNA ends without requiring sequence homology, sometimes introducing small insertions or deletions.

Microhomology-mediated end joining (MMEJ): An alternative end-joining pathway that uses very short homologous sequences to align broken ends, often resulting in deletions.

References

1. Detection of Primary DNA Lesions by Transient Changes in Mating Behavior in Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae Using the Alpha-Test. International Journal of Molecular Sciences (2023).
2. Nick-initiated homologous recombination: Protecting the genome, one strand at a time. DNA Repair (2016).
3. Behavior of dicentric chromosomes in budding yeast. PLOS Genetics (2021).