Bianco P R, Tracy R B, Kowalczykowski S C
Section of Microbiology and of Molecular and Cellular Biology,USC School of Medicine, 1441 Eastlake Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA.
Front Biosci. 1998 Jun 17;3:D570-603. doi: 10.2741/a304.
Homologous genetic recombination is an essential biological process that involves the pairing and exchange of DNA between two homologous chromosomes or DNA molecules. It is of fundamental importance to the preservation of genomic integrity, the production of genetic diversity, and the proper segregation of chromosomes. In Escherichia coli, the RecA protein is essential to recombination, and biochemical analysis demonstrates that it is responsible for the crucial steps of homologous pairing and DNA strand exchange. The presence of RecA-like proteins, or their functional equivalents, in bacteriophage, other eubacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes, confirms that the mechanism of homologous pairing and DNA strand exchange is conserved throughout all forms of life. This review focuses on the biochemical and physical characteristics of DNA strand exchange proteins from three diverse organisms: RecA protein from E. coli, UvsX protein from Bacteriophage T4, and RAD51 protein from Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
同源基因重组是一个重要的生物学过程，它涉及两条同源染色体或DNA分子之间DNA的配对和交换。它对于维持基因组完整性、产生遗传多样性以及染色体的正确分离至关重要。在大肠杆菌中，RecA蛋白对重组至关重要，生化分析表明它负责同源配对和DNA链交换的关键步骤。在噬菌体、其他真细菌、古细菌和真核生物中存在RecA样蛋白或其功能等效物，这证实了同源配对和DNA链交换机制在所有生命形式中都是保守的。本综述重点关注来自三种不同生物体的DNA链交换蛋白的生化和物理特性：大肠杆菌的RecA蛋白、噬菌体T4的UvsX蛋白和酿酒酵母的RAD51蛋白。
