Enchanced survival of ultraviolet-irradiated Escherichia coli dependent upon the recA + gene appears to result from the ability to seal gaps in newly synthesized deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) produced when DNA containing pyrimidine dimers is replicated (8). Strains which are recombination-deficient (recA) do not seal these gaps and degrade their DNA to a considerable extent. Rupp and Howard-Fland...

Homologous recombination (HR) is critical both for repairing DNA lesions in mitosis and for chromosomal pairing and exchange during meiosis. However, some forms of HR can also lead to undesirable DNA rearrangements. Multiple regulatory mechanisms have evolved to ensure that HR takes place at the right time, place and manner. Several of these impinge on the control of Rad51 nucleofilaments that ...

Homologous recombination, the exchange of DNA strands between homologous DNA molecules, is involved in repair of many structural diverse DNA lesions. This versatility stems from multiple ways in which homologous DNA strands can be rearranged. At the core of homologous recombination are recombinase proteins such as RecA and RAD51 that mediate homology recognition and DNA strand exchange through ...