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Molecular and Cellular Biology, March 2004, p. 2344-2351, Vol. 24, No. 6
0270-7306/04/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/MCB.24.6.2344-2351.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
RAD51-Dependent Break-Induced Replication in Yeast
Allison P. Davis and Lorraine S. Symington1*
Department of Microbiology and Institute of Cancer Research, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York 10032
Received 11 December 2003/
Returned for modification 29 December 2003/
Accepted 30 December 2003

ABSTRACT
A chromosome fragmentation assay was used to measure the efficiency
and genetic control of break-induced replication (BIR) in
Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Formation of a chromosome fragment by de novo telomere
generation at one end of the linear vector and recombination-dependent
replication of 100 kb of chromosomal sequences at the other
end of the vector occurred at high frequency in wild-type strains.
RAD51 was required for more than 95% of BIR events involving
a single-end invasion and was essential when two BIR events
were required for generation of a chromosome fragment. The similar
genetic requirements for BIR and gene conversion suggest a common
strand invasion intermediate in these two recombinational repair
processes. Mutation of
RAD50 or
RAD59 conferred no significant
defect in BIR in either
RAD51 or
rad51 strains.
RAD52 was shown
to be essential for BIR at unique chromosomal sequences, although
rare recombination events were detected between the subtelomeric
Y' repeats.

INTRODUCTION
DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are potentially lethal lesions
that can occur spontaneously during normal cellular metabolism
or by treatment of cells with DNA-damaging agents (
38). DSBs
also function as initiators of regulated recombination processes,
such as mating type switching in
Saccharomyces cerevisiae, meiotic
recombination, and the rearrangement of immunoglobulin and T-cell
receptor genes (
8,
43,
48,
51). DSBs generated by endonucleases
or ionizing radiation produce two free DNA ends that can be
repaired by homologous recombination by utilizing a sister chromatid
or homologous chromosome as a template or else by end joining
independent of extensive sequence homology.
In S. cerevisiae, genes of the RAD52 epistasis group (RAD50, RAD51, RAD52, RAD54, RAD55, RAD57, RAD59, MRE11/RAD58, XRS2, and RDH54/TID1) are required for the repair of DSBs by homologous recombination (54). RAD52 is required for virtually all homology-dependent recombination. However, the requirement for the other genes is not so absolute and can vary depending on the configuration of the template sequences. For instance, RAD51, RAD54, RAD55, and RAD57 are required for repair of DSBs by gene conversion (54) but not for the RAD52-dependent single-strand annealing pathway or for the RAD52-dependent amplification of TG1-3 repeats observed in telomerase-deficient strains (21, 27, 29, 56).
In contrast to DSBs made by endonucleases or irradiation, breaks produced by replication fork collapse leave DNA molecules with only a single end whose repair is obligatorily by homologous recombination. Studies of E. coli have shown an essential role for the RecA and RecBCD proteins in the restoration of chromosomal replication following replication fork collapse (24, 37, 45). RecBCD prepares a 3' end for loading of RecA to promote joint molecule formation between the intact and broken sister arms (24). The D-loop formed by RecA is recognized by PriA protein, which then functions in the assembly of the primosome for lagging-strand DNA synthesis and at the 3' end of the invading strand to initiate leading-strand synthesis (63). Similarly, late replication of bacteriophage T4 requires UvsX-dependent strand invasion (26).
The mechanisms for repair of two-ended DSBs are well established in eukaryotes, particularly in yeast. However, contrary to the situation with prokaryotes, the genetic control of one-ended invasion events in repair of collapsed replication forks has not been well established in higher systems. Strong circumstantial evidence implicating an essential role for RAD51 comes from investigation with cultured chicken cells conditionally expressing RAD51. Here, accumulation of unrepaired chromosome breaks during S phase is concomitant with depletion of RAD51 (28, 47, 59). These findings suggest that RAD51 is essential for maintenance or restart of stalled replication forks and/or for the repair of collapsed replication forks. Evidence implicating RAD51 as an important player in one-ended repair events also comes from observations in yeast. RAD51-dependent recombination between subtelomeric Y' elements leads to survivors in the absence of telomerase (27, 29, 56), a process thought to occur by a one-ended invasion resulting in replication to the end of the chromosome (13). On the other hand, Malkova et al., also studying yeast, reported repair of an HO-endonuclease break on the right arm of chromosome III by recombination-dependent replication in the absence of RAD51 function (33). These recombination events were interpreted as resulting from one-ended break-induced repair leading to duplication of distal sequences all the way to the end of the chromosome. A plasmid-based break-induced replication (BIR) assay has also been described, but these events occurred at low efficiency due to the requirement for nonhomologous end joining to complete the repair event (25).
To learn more about the genetic control of one-ended invasion events, and to attempt to resolve the paradoxical role of RAD51, we planned a new experimental system for studying break-induced replication. The design was based on the chromosome fragmentation vector system of Hieter et al. in which a linearized vector transformed into yeast cells undergoes two independent recombination-dependent replication events to generate a stable chromosome fragment (40). The vector used for transformation was modified to include a TG1-3 tract to provide a site for de novo telomere addition at one end of the linear vector, and the other end consists of a unique chromosomal region for strand invasion of homologous chromosomal sequences. The advantages of this system compared with HO-induced break systems is that repair cannot occur by gene conversion. We report here that most of the observed repair events occur by a RAD51-dependent pathway (including RAD54, RAD55, and RAD57) but with no requirement for RAD50 or RAD59. These results support the emerging view that the essential role of RAD51 in vertebrates is in recombination-dependent restoration of collapsed replication forks.

MATERIALS AND METHOD
Media, growth conditions, and genetic methods
Standard genetic methods were followed. YPD (1% yeast extract,
2% peptone, 2% dextrose) and synthetic complete (SC) medium
lacking the appropriate amino acid or nucleic acid base were
prepared as described previously (
1). Transformations were performed
by the lithium acetate method (
19). Yeast cells were grown at
30°C, unless otherwise stated.
Yeast strains and plasmids
S. cerevisiae strains used in this study are RAD5 derivatives of W303-1A and W303-1B (57), unless otherwise noted, and are listed in Table 1. Strains containing the rad52::TRP1, rad51::HIS3, and rad59::LEU2 alleles have been described previously (5). The strains containing multiple rad mutations were made by crossing strains from the laboratory collection, dissection of tetrads, and screening of the haploid segregants for those with the desired genotype. Chromosome fragmentation vectors (CFV) CFV/D8B-Y', CFV/D8B-tg, CFV/MRC1-tg, CFV/PCA1-tg, CFV/YBR235-tg, and CFV/Y'-tg are derivatives of pYCF2/D8B, which has been described previously (40). To construct CFV/D8B-Y', a SnaBI oligonucleotide linker was cloned into the BglII site in pYCF2/D8B, resulting in a unique SnaBI site between the D8B region and the Y' subtelomeric repeat. To construct CFV/D8B-tg, oligonucleotides containing a HindIII half site, two Rap1 binding sites, a SnaBI site, and a BglII half site,5'-AGCTTTGTGTGGTGTGTGGGTGTGTGTGGGTGTGTGGGTGTGTGGGTACGTAA and 5'-GATCTTACGTACCCACACACCCACACACCCACACACACCCACACACCACACAA, were annealed and then cloned into the HindIII and BglII sites of pYCF2/D8B, resulting in a unique SnaBI site between the D8B region and the Rap1 binding sites and deleting the Y' region. To construct CFV/MRC1-tg, CFV/PCA1-tg, and CFV/YBR235-tg, an approximately 2-kb region of each open reading frame was amplified by PCR, subcloned into pGEM-T (Promega), and then cloned into the BglII and EcoNI sites of CFV/D8B-tg, replacing the D8B sequences with another unique chromosomal locus. To construct CFV/Y'-tg, oligonucleotides containing a BglII half site, a SnaBI site, two Rap1 binding sites, and an EcoNI half site, 5'-GATCTTACGTACCCACACACCCACACACCCACACACACCCACACACCACACACCTAA and 5'-ATTAGGTGTGTGGTGTGTGGGTGTGTGTGGGTGTGTGGGTGTGTGGGTACGTAA, were annealed and then cloned into the BglII and EcoNI sites of pYCF2/D8B, resulting in a unique SnaBI site between the Y' region and the GT tract and deleting the D8B region.
Determination of frequency of stable Ura+ transformants
One microgram of the chromosome fragmentation vector, digested
with
SnaBI, was used to transform competent yeast cells, selecting
for Ura
+ transformants. For CFV/D8B-Y', CFV/D8B-tg, CFV/
MRC1-tg,
CFV/
PCA1-tg, and CFV/
YBR235-tg, two classes of transformants
were expected: circular plasmids, due to end joining or contamination
of the linear vector DNA with undigested plasmids, and linear
chromosome fragments. The mitotic stability of the Ura
+ transformants
was determined to distinguish between these two classes. For
ade2-
1 strains, Ura
+ transformants were struck onto nonselective
YPD medium and were analyzed for a red sectoring phenotype.
The
ade2-
1 red-colony-color phenotype is partially suppressed
by
SUP11, which is contained on the vectors. Transformants that
showed a nonsectoring phenotype (white) were grown on nonselective
solid medium and then replica plated to SC-URA to score for
Ura
- segregants. Transformants that failed to show red/white
sectoring but showed Ura
- segregants after nonselective growth
were generally due to petite formation or a secondary mutation
that eliminated the red-colony-color phenotype. For diploids
and
ADE2 strains, Ura
+ transformants were struck onto nonselective
YPD medium, replica plated to SC-URA, and scored for Ura
+/Ura
- phenotype. The frequency of stable Ura
+ transformants presented
in the tables is the number of mitotically stable Ura
+ transformants
per microgram of linearized DNA transformed divided by the number
of Ura
+ transformants per microgram of circular plasmid DNA
transformed. The mean BIR frequencies (with standard deviations)
presented in the tables are from at least three independent
transformations of each strain. Statistical analyses were performed
by using the Student's
t test.
For CFV/Y'-tg, genomic DNA was purified from Ura+ transformants and was digested with EagI. DNA fragments were separated on 0.8% agarose gels, transferred to nylon membranes (Amersham Hybond-N+), and hybridized with a PCR fragment generated by amplification of CEN4 sequences adjacent to the Rap1 binding sites in CFV/Y'-tg. Transformants in which the vector recircularized contained a vector-length EagI-linearized fragment. Transformants containing a linear chromosome, formed by Y' recombination and de novo telomere addition, were identified by an approximately 2-kb fragment containing CEN4 and the non-Y' telomere. The frequency of BIR is the number of Ura+ transformants that have created the recombinant linear DNA molecule per microgram of linearized DNA transformed divided by the number of Ura+ transformants per microgram of circular plasmid DNA transformed.
Visualization of long (>100 kb) chromosome fragments
Agarose plugs of intact chromosomal DNA were prepared from stable Ura+ transformants as described by Schwartz and Cantor (44a). Chromosomes were separated by electrophoresis through 1% pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE)-certified agarose (Bio-Rad) at 14°C in 0.5x Tris-borate-EDTA, using a CHEF-DR II Pulsed Field Electrophoresis system (Bio-Rad). Gels were stained with SYBR gold (Molecular Probes), and the DNA was transferred to nylon membranes and hybridized with a PCR product generated by amplification of the URA3 or YBR235 open reading frame. Transformants in which the CFV were repaired by BIR contained an approximately 110-kb stable chromosome fragment.
Visualization of 30-kb chromosome fragments
Genomic DNA was purified from stable Ura+ transformants derived from CFV/MRC1-tg or CFV/PCA1-tg. Undigested DNA was separated on 0.8% gels, transferred to nylon membranes, and hybridized with a PCR fragment generated by amplification of pBR322 sequences present in the original chromosome fragmentation vector. Transformants in which the vector was repaired by BIR contained an approximately 30-kb fragment.
Visualization of vector recircularization events
Genomic DNA was purified from Ura+ transformants classified as mitotically unstable for the SUP11 and URA3 markers. Undigested DNA was separated on 0.8% gels, transferred to nylon membranes, and hybridized with a PCR fragment generated by amplification of pBR322 sequences present in the original chromosome fragmentation vector. Transformants that arose by a plasmid rejoin event or by contamination with uncut plasmid DNA exhibited two bands, corresponding to supercoiled or relaxed circular forms of the plasmid. The relaxed circular form of the plasmid migrated more slowly than bulk genomic DNA under the electrophoresis conditions used. In some cases the plasmids were shorter than the original CFV, consistent with imprecise end joining.

RESULT
Experimental system
To study the role of the
RAD52 group genes in BIR we developed
a chromosome fragmentation assay based on the pioneering system
described by Hieter and colleagues (
40,
61) (Fig.
1A). The Hieter
system utilized a chromosome fragmentation vector (CFV) containing
unique chromosomal sequences to target recombination, the
URA3 selectable marker, and part of the Y' subtelomeric repeat. When
the vector was linearized in vitro and used to transform yeast,
those investigators observed that recombination occurred between
sequences present at the two ends of the CFV and the corresponding
chromosomal regions leading to duplication of sequences to the
telomeres, thereby forming a stable chromosome fragment (CF).
Ura
+ transformants were also found to arise by direct joining
of the two ends of the CFV to form a self-replicating plasmid.
We modified the pCF2/D8B vector described by Morrow et al. (
40)
in two ways. The first was to change the site of linearization
so that blunt ends would be formed in order to minimize repair
by end joining. The second, and more important, was to replace
the Y' sequence with a 42-nucleotide tract of TG
1-3 repeats
containing two Rap1 binding sites designed to promote de novo
telomere formation (
31,
32). Thus, CFs generated from the modified
CFV (CFV/D8B-tg) would undergo strand invasion at only one end,
rather than the two ends required to form a stable CF according
to the original vector design, and telomere addition at the
other end of the vector.
The two potential classes of transformants derived from CFV/D8B-tg, i.e., 110-kb CFs and end-joined plasmids, can be distinguished by their mitotic stability. Centromere-containing plasmids are lost at a rate of about 1%/cell/generation, whereas large artificial chromosomes are about 100-fold more stable (17, 42). The SUP11 marker present on the CFV suppresses the ade2-1 mutation present in the yeast strain background used leading to white colonies, whereas cells lacking the CFV form red colonies (17). Transformants that showed very low sectoring following nonselective growth were scored as containing stable CFs and transformants showing high red or white sectoring were scored as plasmid end-joined events. These two phenotypic classes were confirmed by a second genetic screen for mitotic stability of the URA3 marker and by physical analysis (Fig. 2).
RAD51, RAD52, RAD54, RAD55, and RAD57 are required for BIR
Transformation of recombination-proficient cells with linearized
CFV/D8B-tg yielded 5.7
x 10
4 Ura
+ transformants/µg of
DNA, only fivefold less than that observed using the uncut plasmid
(Table
2). Of these Ura
+ transformants, more than 95% were stable
for the
URA3 and
SUP11 markers and were shown to contain the
expected 110-kb CF, in addition to a normal-length copy of chromosome
III, by PFGE gel analysis (data not shown). Thus, de novo telomere
addition and BIR are highly efficient processes in wild-type
cells.
To determine the frequency of BIR, the number of stable Ura
+ transformants derived from the linearized CFV was normalized
to the transformation efficiency using uncut replicating plasmid
for wild-type and each of the
rad52 group mutant strains (Table
2). Consistent with previous studies showing an essential role
for
RAD52 in homologous recombination, no stable Ura
+ transformants
were recovered from the
rad52 strain. There was a 140-fold decrease
in the BIR frequency in the
rad51 strain (
P < 0.0001), and
further analysis by PFGE revealed that only 50% of the stable
Ura
+ transformants contained CFs (data not shown). The transformants
with a stable Ura
+ phenotype lacking CFs are probably due to
nonhomologous integration of the linear fragment or conversion
or reversion of the chromosomal
ura3-
1 marker. The BIR frequency
was also significantly reduced in
rad54,
rad55, and
rad57 mutants
(Table
2). Because
rad55 and
rad57 mutants exhibit more severe
recombination and repair defects at low temperature, the transformations
were repeated with cells grown at 18°C. By using cells grown
at low temperature, the frequency of BIR was reduced more than
500-fold for
rad51,
rad54,
rad55, and
rad57 mutants compared
with that of the wild type, suggesting that the residual
RAD51-independent
BIR events are temperature dependent (data not shown).
The BIR studies by Malkova et al. (33, 34) and Signon et al. (46) utilized diploid yeast strains. Because mating type heterozygosity is known to regulate several DNA repair pathways and to suppress the defect of some recombinational repair mutants (39), the transformation experiments were repeated using diploid strains. The efficiency of BIR was the same in wild-type haploid and diploid strains, and the same reduction in BIR was observed in rad51 diploids as was observed in haploids (Table 2). Therefore, the requirement for RAD51 in BIR is not specific for haploid strains.
To determine whether the low level of BIR seen in rad51 strains using CFV/D8B-tg was a general phenomenon or specific for this sequence, three other CFVs were generated (Fig. 1B). These all contain the TG1-3 tract for de novo telomere formation on one end of the linearized vector and a unique sequence for strand invasion at the other. The sequences inserted included a 2-kb fragment located 20 kb from the telomere of the left arm of chromosome III (MRC1), a 1.5-kb fragment located 125 kb from the telomere of the right arm of chromosome II (YBR235w) and a 1.5-kb fragment located 20 kb from the telomere of the left arm of chromosome II (PCA1). The frequency of BIR observed in the wild-type strain for the vectors containing chromosome II sequences was slightly decreased when compared with the vectors containing chromosome III sequences (Table 3). This could be due to the shorter region of homology present in the chromosome II-containing vectors, or to some feature of chromosome III that is more permissive for recombination-dependent replication. For all of these vectors, at least a 33-fold decrease in BIR frequency was observed in the rad51 strain, and physical analysis confirmed the presence of the expected size CF in stable Ura+ transformants (Fig. 2). The decreased intensity of the CF band by PFGE in rad50 strains is most likely due to the lower stability of the CF in this strain background.
BIR is independent of RAD50 and RAD59
Previous studies suggested the
RAD51-independent pathway for
BIR requires the
RAD50 and
RAD59 genes (
46). To test the requirement
for these factors in
RAD51-dependent and
RAD51-independent BIR,
rad50,
rad59,
rad51 rad50,
rad51 rad59,
rad50 rad59, and
rad51 rad50 rad59 mutants were transformed with the CFV/D8B-tg vector.
There was no significant decrease in the number of stable Ura
+ transformants in the
rad50 and
rad59 strains compared to that
of the wild type, and the frequency of BIR was much higher than
that observed in
rad51 strains (Table
2). The frequency of BIR
in the
rad51 rad59 strain was significantly lower than that
observed for the wild-type strain (
P < 0.01), but there was
no difference from that of the
rad51 strains. The significant
increase in the frequency of BIR in the
rad50 rad51 strain,
compared to that of the
rad51 strain (
P = 0.013), could be due
to increased stability of the linearized CFV in the absence
of the
RAD50-controlled nuclease activity (
22). BIR was reduced
in the
rad50 rad59 strain compared to that of the wild type,
but this reduction was not significant compared to that of the
rad50 or
rad59 single mutants. The
rad50 and
rad59 mutants also
showed no significant reduction in BIR using the chromosome
II-containing CFVs (Table
3) and all of the stable Ura
+ transformants
contained the expected size CF (Fig.
2).
RAD51 is essential for two independent BIR events
The results presented above show that RAD51 is important, but not absolutely essential, for strand invasion from one end of a linear chromosome. To test the requirement for RAD51 in the repair of two chromosome ends by BIR, the original D8B CFV containing Y' sequences but modified to include a SnaBI site was used to transform wild-type, rad50, rad51, rad52, and rad59 strains. Stable Ura+ transformants derived from this vector occur by strand invasion of one end at the D8B region of chromosome III, and invasion of one of the multiple Y' sequences present in the subtelomeric regions of most yeast chromosomes by the other end. The wild-type strain exhibited high-frequency BIR, but the rad51 and rad52 strains showed a more than 1,000-fold decrease in the number of stable Ura+ transformants compared to that of the wild-type strain (Table 4). Of five independent transformations of the rad51 strain, only one yielded stable Ura+ transformants, and of the three colonies produced, none contained a CF by PFGE analysis. Southern blot analysis of these transformants failed to detect vector sequences, suggesting they probably arose by conversion or reversion of the ura3-1 marker. Similarly, transformation of most of the double- and triple-mutant strains that contained the rad51 mutation failed to yield stable Ura+ transformants (Table 4). As before, the differences between the wild-type strain and rad50 or rad59 mutants were not significant.
Y' recombination is reduced in rad51 mutants
The failure to recover CFs from CFV/D8B-Y' could be due to an
essential requirement for
RAD51 in strand invasion of Y' sequences.
RAD51 is known to be required for the formation of survivors
in telomerase-defective cells by promoting amplification of
Y' sequences (
27,
56). To test this hypothesis, a CFV was constructed
containing both Y' sequences and TG
1-3 sequences (Fig.
1B).
Upon linearization with
SnaBI and transformation of yeast, linear
CFs are generated by de novo telomere addition to the TG
1-3 repeats and strand invasion of the Y' sequences at endogenous
Y' elements. The efficiency of BIR using the CFV/Y'-tg was very
high, with almost the same number of transformants obtained
from cut as with uncut DNA in the wild-type,
rad50, and
rad59 strains (Table
5). This high frequency is probably due to the
increased number of donor sequences for recombination. The number
of Ura
+ transformants obtained from the linearized CFV was reduced
about 200-fold in the
rad52 strain and about 20-fold in the
rad51 strains compared to that for transformation with uncut
DNA. Because short linear chromosomes are much less stable than
long CFs, mitotic stability could not be used to distinguish
between BIR and end-joining events among the Ura
+ transformants
(
12,
42). Instead, 14 to 17 Ura
+ transformants from each of
three independent transformations of each strain (45 to 50 total
for each strain) were analyzed by Southern blotting. Genomic
DNA was digested with
EagI, which generates two fragments from
CF-containing transformants, one of which is predicted to be
approximately 2 kb and to be diffuse due to the heterogeneity
of the telomere tract. Precise end joining is expected to generate
a single fragment of 12 kb. More than 90% of the transformants
analyzed from the wild-type,
rad50, and
rad59 strains contained
the expected linear chromosome. As expected, the telomere-containing
fragment from the
rad50 transformants was shorter than observed
in the wild type due to the defect in telomere maintenance conferred
by the
rad50 mutation (
23). About 15% of the Ura
+ transformants
derived from
rad51 strains contained end-joined plasmids, and
the rest contained linear plasmids, indicative of Y' BIR. Surprisingly,
two of the transformants generated in the
rad52 strain contained
linear plasmids. Previous studies have also shown rare recombinational
healing of chromosome ends after telomere loss in
rad52 strains
(
35). Only strains containing
rad52 or
rad51 mutations showed
a significant reduction in BIR compared to that of the wild-type
strain (
P < 0.01) and, as observed for CFV/D8B-tg, the
rad50 rad51 strain showed higher BIR than the
rad51 strain (
P = 0.03).
These results demonstrate Y' BIR is reduced about 25-fold by
the
rad51 mutation and suggest that the failure to detect CFs
in
rad51 mutants using the D8B-Y' CFV is due to a failure to
complete two BIR events rather than a failure to initiate BIR
from Y' sequences.

DISCUSSION
We used a chromosome fragmentation assay to measure the efficiency
and genetic control of recombination-dependent replication (BIR)
in yeast. Three important conclusions can be drawn from our
analysis. First, BIR occurs with high efficiency in wild-type
cells, even when two independent strand invasion-replication
events are required to yield a stable chromosome fragment. Second,
in contrast to results of previous studies, we showed that
RAD51 is required for more than 97% of BIR events involving a single-end
invasion and is essential when CF formation demands more than
one BIR event. Third, and also in contrast to results of previous
studies,
RAD50 and
RAD59 are not required for interchromosomal
BIR in
RAD51 or
rad51 strains. These conclusions are discussed
in more detail below.
Rad51 is required for single-ended strand invasion
Previous studies have shown that the major pathway to repair plasmid and chromosomal DSBs is RAD51-dependent gene conversion (6, 33). In the absence of RAD51, repair of an HO-endonuclease-induced DSB at the MAT locus in diploids can occur by strand invasion and duplication of sequences distal to the break site (33). This inefficient RAD51-independent repair pathway was found to require a cis-acting element, termed the BIR facilitator, located about 30 kb from the site of the DSB (34). In the absence of the BIR facilitator, induction of a DSB in the rad51 strains resulted primarily in chromosome loss. It is not clear if the BIR facilitator is only found on the right arm of chromosome III, or if similar sequences are dispersed throughout the genome. In another study, repair of an HO-induced DSB on chromosome VII was reduced more than 20-fold in rad51 and rad52 mutants, but some RAD51-independent ionizing-radiation induced BIR events were detected (15). Here we show a 33- to 140-fold decrease in BIR in rad51 mutants. The level of RAD51-independent recombination was about the same for all of the vectors used, with some variability in the efficiency of repair in wild-type strains. When formation of a CF required two independent strand invasion events, a severe defect was observed in the rad51 mutant, resulting in no detectable CFs. The rare stable Ura+ transformants generated were most likely due to conversion of the endogenous ura3-1 locus by the linear transforming DNA. Previous studies have shown only a fivefold reduction in gene targeting in rad51 strains relative to the wild type (44).
Studies in chicken DT-40 cells indicate an essential role for RAD51 during S-phase progression (47). Based on the results presented here, we suggest that RAD51 is required to repair chromosomal DSBs generated by replication fork collapse by a one-ended strand invasion process. Although repair of collapsed replication fork requires recombination between sister chromatids and the system described here measures strand invasion between homologous chromosomes, we believe that this represents a valid assay for one-ended strand invasion. The Escherichia coli in vitro assay system for replication fork restart relies on strand invasion between homologous plasmids, not sister chromatids, and uses the same factors known from genetic studies to be required for repair of collapsed replication forks (63). In eukaryotes with large genomes replication fork collapse is expected to occur multiple times, and thus complete genome replication would be dependent on RAD51. In organisms with smaller genomes, such as S. cerevisiae, replication fork collapse might be predicted to occur less than once per cell cycle, and therefore RAD51 would not be essential. However, RAD51 is essential for vegetative yeast growth when replication is perturbed (53, 58).
RAD50 and RAD59 are not required for interchromosomal BIR
RAD51-independent BIR of an HO-induced DSB at the MAT locus on chromosome III requires RAD50 and RAD59 and is dependent on the presence of a cis-acting element termed the BIR facilitator (34, 46). We found no significant role for RAD50 in either RAD51-dependent or RAD51-independent BIR by using the chromosome fragmentation assay. Instead, RAD51-independent BIR occurred at higher frequency in rad50 mutants. Previous studies have shown a reduced rate of processing DSBs in rad50 mutants, raising the possibility that the linear CFV is more stable in this strain (22). If the linear CFV persisted longer in rad50 strains, this would allow more time for rare RAD51-independent strand invasion to occur. The requirement for RAD50 in the BIR assay described by Signon et al. (46) could be an indirect effect of reduced resection of the HO-induced break. Because RAD51-independent BIR of the HO cut site at the chromosomal MAT locus requires strand invasion at a site 30 kb upstream of the HO cut site, it is possible that the delayed resection in rad50 mutants prevents invasion from occurring at the BIR facilitator. Alternatively, the BIR facilitator could represent a preferred sequence for RAD50-dependent strand invasion. Previous studies identified a RAD50- and RAD59-dependent pathway for telomere maintenance in the absence of telomerase and RAD51 (10). This pathway involves recombination between the telomere repeat sequences and could be considered a pathway of short repeat recombination. Consistent with this hypothesis, Ira et al. identified a RAD51-independent, RAD50-dependent pathway for intrachromosomal recombination between short repeats (18). Similarly, the requirement for RAD59 in RAD51-independent BIR mediated through the facilitator sequence and for telomere maintenance in rad51 tlc1 mutants could be explained by a requirement for this gene in short repeat recombination (10, 18, 49).
MRE11 and RAD50 are essential for mouse early embryonic development and for viability of vertebrate cell lines (30, 62). Studies using an MRE11 conditional allele suggest an essential role for MRE11 in S phase, and Mre11 has been found to colocalize with PCNA at replication forks in dividing cells (36, 64). Antibody depletion of Mre11 from Xenopus oocyte extracts results in incomplete replication of DNA added to the extract and accumulation of DSBs during DNA synthesis (11). These results suggest that Mre11 is required during replication to prevent replication fork collapse or for the repair of collapsed forks. Mre11 forms a stable complex with Rad50 and Xrs2 (NBS1 in vertebrates) (9, 60), and this complex is thought to function specifically in sister chromatid DSB repair but not in recombination between ectopic repeats or interchromosomal recombination (3, 7, 14, 16, 20). The lack of a requirement for RAD50 in the chromosome fragmentation assay is most likely because CF formation requires interchromosomal strand invasion rather than recombination between sister chromatids.
RAD52 is essential for BIR
Studies with S. cerevisiae indicate an essential role for RAD52 in most homologous recombination events (54). In some mitotic recombination assays, significant levels of RAD51-independent recombination are observed, and these all require RAD52. Rad52 catalyzes annealing between complementary single-stranded DNA and promotes Rad51-dependent strand invasion by targeting Rad51 to replication protein A-coated single-stranded DNA (41, 50, 52). In the absence of Rad51, it is assumed that Rad52 can promote some type of strand invasion process, and this occurs with greatest efficiency in the presence of Rad59 (4, 5). The Rad52-promoted strand invasion could possibly occur by annealing between a single-stranded region and transiently unwound donor duplex DNA.
CF formation is more efficient than gene targeting
We cannot eliminate the possibility that some of the chromosome fragments derived from CFVs are the result of reciprocal exchange between the end(s) of the linear CFV and chromosomal sequences. Because the efficiency of BIR using CFV/D8B-Y' and CFV/D8B-tg is about 50-fold higher than that typically observed for gene targeting (44, 55), it seems unlikely that crossing over at the ends of the fragment is the primary mechanism for CF formation. To recover CFs in haploid strains, reciprocal exchange would have to occur in G2 and be followed by segregation of the CF and the intact sister to the same daughter cell and, thus, would be expected to occur at even lower efficiency than conventional gene targeting. Furthermore, a reciprocal exchange between the linear CFV and a sister chromatid would generate a broken chromosome in addition to the CF. The broken chromosome would then be expected to engage in another recombination event, repeating a cycle of futile crossing over. To eliminate the possibility of G2 crossovers, Morrow et al. showed that CFs could also be generated from a CFV containing two different sequences from the D8B region of chromosome III at the ends on the linear fragment, thus requiring two independent BIR events into the same chromosomal sequence (or one invasion of chromosomal sequences followed by intrachromosomal BIR) (40). Generation of stable Ura+ transformants from the Iso-CFV cannot occur by a simple G2 crossover mechanism and is also dependent on RAD51 (unpublished data).
In summary, we describe a simple genetic assay to determine the frequency of one-ended strand invasion followed by extensive replication in yeast. This process is efficient in wild-type cells and is dependent on the same genes that are required for DSB-induced gene conversion (RAD51, RAD52, RAD54, RAD55, and RAD57), suggesting a common strand invasion intermediate. The frequency of plasmid gap repair (a gene conversion process) and BIR following transformation with linear vectors is quite similar and is reduced by the same amount in the rad mutants, suggesting that one-ended strand invasion is the limiting step and is catalyzed by the same proteins (Table 2) (6). The key difference between gene conversion and BIR is that the tract of DNA synthesis accompanying gene conversion is short, whereas several hundred kilobase pairs can be duplicated during BIR. At this time we do not know which replication factors are required in these two systems, but the expectation is that BIR should require a more processive replication fork. Interchromosomal BIR is potentially detrimental because it could result in loss of heterozygosity or formation of nonreciprocal translocations if it were to occur between ectopic repeats. BIR does not normally occur when breaks present with two ends, suggesting that the second end regulates the extent of DNA synthesis or acts as a barrier to BIR (2).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank P. Hieter for providing pCF2 vectors and W. K. Holloman
and members of the Symington laboratory for stimulating discussions
and critical reading of the manuscript. We thank A. Lustig for
advice on design and cloning of the oligonucleotides used for
de novo telomere addition.
The research described in this article was supported by Public Health Service grant GM41784 from the National Institutes of Health.

FOOTNOTES
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology and Institute of Cancer Research, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, 701 W. 168th St., New York, NY 10032. Phone: (212) 305-4793. Fax: (212) 305-1741. E-mail:
lss5{at}columbia.edu.


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Molecular and Cellular Biology, March 2004, p. 2344-2351, Vol. 24, No. 6
0270-7306/04/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/MCB.24.6.2344-2351.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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