The duplex integrity
of the
gapped
region
can
be
restored
by repair synthesis
using the 3'
end on the left side
of the
gap
as a
primer.
Over-
all, the
gap
has been repaired
by two individ-
ual rounds of single-strand
DNA synthesis.
Branch migration
converts
this structure
into
a molecule with two recombinant
joints.
The
joints
must
be
resolved
by cutting.
If both
joints
are resolved
in the same
way,
the original
noncrossover
molecules
will be
released, each with
a
region
of altered
genetic
information that is a footprint
of the exchange
event. If the two
joints
are resolved in opposite
ways, a
genetic
crossover is
produced.
The structure
of the two-jointed molecule
before it is
resolved
illustrates
a critical differ-
ence between the double-strand
break model
and models that invoke
only single-strand
exchanges.
.
Following the
double-strand break, het-
eroduplex DNA has been formed
at each
end of the region
involved in the
exchange. Between
the two heterodu-
plex
segments is the region
correspon-
ding to the
gap,
which now has the
sequence of the donor DNA in
both
mol-
ecules
(Figure
19.9).
Thus the arrange-
ment of heteroduplex
sequences
is
asymmetric, and
part
of one
molecule
has
been converted to the sequence of
the other
(which
is why
the
initiating
chromatid is
called the recipient).
.
Following reciprocal
single-strand ex-
change, each
DNA
duplex has heterodu-
plex
material
covering the region from
the initial site
of
exchange
to the
migrat-
ing
branch
(Figure
19.6). In variants of
the single-strand
exchange
model in
which some DNA is degraded and resyn-
thesized, the initiating
chromatid
is
the
donor of
genetic
information.
The double-strand
break model does
not
reduce the importance of the formation of het-
eroduplex
DNA,
which
remains
the only
plau-
sible
means by which two
duplex
molecules
can
interact. By
shifting the
responsibility for initi-
ating recombination from single-strand to dou-
ble-strand breaks, though, it influences our
perspective
about the ability
of the cell
to manip-
ulate DNA.
The involvement of double-strand breaks at
first
seems surprising. Once a break
has
been
made right across a DNA molecule, there is no
going
back. Compare the events of Figure
19.6
and Figure 19.9. At no
point
in the single-strand
exchange model
has
any information been
lost.
lilirliill.
.L',r,ii Recombination
is initiated by
a double-strand
break, fotlowed by
formation
of single-stranded
3' ends,
one
of
which m'igrates
to a homologous
duplex.
In the double-strand
break
model,
though,
the
initial
cleavage
is
immediately
followed
by
loss
of information.
Any error
in retrieving
the
infor-
mation
could
be
fatal. On
the other
hand, the
very ability to
retrieve
lost information
by
resyn-
thesizing
it from
another
duplex
provides
a
maior safetv
net for
the cell.
Recombining
Chromosomes
Are
Connected
by the
SynaptonemaI
Complex
.
During the early
part
of
meiosis.
homologous
chromosomes
are
paired
in the
synaptonemaI
comotex.
.
The mass of chromatin
of each
homotog
is
separated
from the other
by a
proteinaceous
co m
p
lex.
A basic
paradox
in
recombination
is that the
parental
chromosomes
never seem
to be
in close
enough
contact
for
recombination
of
DNA
to
19.5 Recombining
Chromosomes
Are Connected
by the SynaptonemaI
Complex
465