Evidence of meiotic crossover control in Saccharomyces cerevisiae through Mec1-mediated phosphorylation of replication protein A

Replication protein A (RPA) is the major single-stranded DNA-binding protein in eukaryotes, essential for DNA replication, repair, and recombination. During mitosis and meiosis in budding yeast, RPA becomes phosphorylated in reactions that require the Mec1 protein kinase, a central checkpoint regulator and homolog of human ATR. Through mass spectrometry and site-directed mutagenesis, we have now identified a single serine residue in the middle subunit of the RPA heterotrimer that is targeted for phosphorylation by Mec1 both in vivo and in vitro. Cells containing a phosphomimetic version of RPA generated by mutation of this serine to aspartate exhibit a significant alteration in the pattern of meiotic crossovers for specific genetic intervals. These results suggest a new function of Mec1 that operates through RPA to locally control reciprocal recombination.