A Fine-Structure Map of Spontaneous Mitotic Crossovers in the Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae
2009

Mapping Mitotic Crossovers in Yeast

Sample size: 74 publication 10 minutes Evidence: high

Author Information

Author(s): Lee Phoebe S., Greenwell Patricia W., Dominska Margaret, Gawel Malgorzata, Hamilton Monica, Petes Thomas D.

Primary Institution: Duke University Medical Center

Hypothesis

What are the properties and mechanisms of mitotic recombination in yeast?

Conclusion

Most spontaneous reciprocal crossovers in yeast are associated with long gene conversion tracts, with about 40% indicating a DNA double-strand break initiated in G1.

Supporting Evidence

  • Most crossovers are associated with adjacent conversion tracts.
  • Conversion tracts are often very long, averaging about 12 kb.
  • About 40% of conversion events suggest repair of a chromosome broken in G1.

Takeaway

Yeast can swap pieces of their DNA during cell division, and this study shows that these swaps can be much longer than previously thought.

Methodology

The study used a genetic system to select for daughter cells containing the products of mitotic crossovers and mapped crossovers and gene conversion events in a specific chromosomal region.

Potential Biases

Potential bias in the selection of strains and the specific genetic markers used.

Limitations

The study primarily focuses on a specific chromosomal region and may not represent all mitotic recombination events in yeast.

Participant Demographics

The study involved yeast strains derived from two closely related haploids.

Statistical Information

P-Value

p<0.001

Confidence Interval

95% confidence limits

Statistical Significance

p<0.05

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1371/journal.pgen.1000410

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