Overlapping functions of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Mre11, Exo1 and Rad27 nucleases in DNA metabolism.

MRE11 functions in several aspects of DNA metabolism, including meiotic recombination, double-strand break repair, and telomere maintenance. Although the purified protein exhibits 3' to 5' exonuclease and endonuclease activities in vitro, Mre11 is implicated in the 5' to 3' resection of duplex ends in vivo. The mre11-H125N mutation, which eliminates the nuclease activities of Mre11, causes an accumulation of unprocessed double-strand breaks (DSBs) in meiosis, but no defect in processing HO-induced DSBs in mitotic cells, suggesting the existence of redundant activities. Mutation of EXO1, which encodes a 5' to 3' exonuclease, was found to increase the ionizing radiation sensitivity of both mre11Delta and mre11-H125N strains, but the exo1 mre11-H125N strain showed normal kinetics of mating-type switching and was more radiation resistant than the mre11Delta strain. This suggests that other nucleases can compensate for loss of the Exo1 and Mre11 nucleases, but not of the Mre11-Rad50-Xrs2 complex. Deletion of RAD27, which encodes a flap endonuclease, causes inviability in mre11 strains. When mre11-H125N was combined with the leaky rad27-6, the double mutants were viable and no more gamma-ray sensitive than the mre11-H125N strain. This suggests that the double mutant defect is unlikely to be due to defective DSB processing.     

Role of the nuclease activity of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Mre11 in repair of DNA double-strand breaks in mitotic cells

The Rad50:Mre11:Xrs2 (RMX) complex functions in repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) by recombination and nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) and is also required for telomere stability. The Mre11 subunit exhibits nuclease activities in vitro, but the role of these activities in repair in mitotic cells has not been established. In this study we have performed a comparative study of three mutants (mre11-D16A, -D56N, and -H125N) previously shown to have reduced nuclease activities in vitro. In ends-in and ends-out chromosome recombination assays using defined plasmid and oligonucleotide DNA substrates, mre11-D16A cells were as deficient as mre11 null strains, but defects were small in mre11-D56N and -H125N mutants. mre11-D16A cells, but not the other mutants, also displayed strong sensitivity to ionizing radiation, with residual resistance largely dependent on the presence of the partially redundant nuclease Exo1. mre11-D16A mutants were also most sensitive to the S-phase-dependent clastogens hydroxyurea and methyl methanesulfonate but, as previously observed for D56N and H125N mutants, were not defective in NHEJ. Importantly, the affinity of purified Mre11-D16A protein for Rad50 and Xrs2 was indistinguishable from wild type and the mutant protein formed complexes with equivalent stoichiometry. Although the role of the nuclease activity has been questioned in previous studies, the comparative data presented here suggest that the nuclease function of Mre11 is required for RMX-mediated recombinational repair and telomere stabilization in mitotic cells.     

Mre11 and Ku regulation of double-strand break repair by gene conversion and break-induced replication

The yeast Mre11-Rad50-Xrs2 (MRX) and Ku complexes regulate single-strand resection at DNA double-strand breaks (DSB), a key early step in homologous recombination (HR). A prior plasmid gap repair study showed that mre11 mutations, which slow single-strand resection, reduce gene conversion tract lengths and the frequency of associated crossovers. Here we tested whether mre11Delta or nuclease-defective mre11 mutations reduced gene conversion tract lengths during HR between homologous chromosomes in diploid yeast. We found that mre11 mutations reduced the efficiency of HR but did not reduce tract lengths or crossovers, despite substantially reduced end-resection at the test (ura3) locus. End-resection is increased in yku70Delta, but this change also had no effect on tract lengths. Thus, heteroduplex formation and tract lengths are not regulated by the extent of end-resection during DSB repair in a chromosomal context. In a plasmid-chromosome DSB repair assay, tract lengths were again similar in wild-type and mre11Delta, but they were reduced in mre11Delta in a gap repair assay. These results indicate that tract lengths are not affected by the extent of end processing when broken ends can invade nearby sites, perhaps because MRX coordination of the two broken ends is dispensable when ends invade nearby sites. Although HR outcome was largely unaffected in mre11 mutants, break-induced replication (BIR) and chromosome loss increased, suggesting that Mre11 function in mitotic HR is limited to early HR stages. Interestingly, yku70Delta suppressed BIR in mre11 mutants. BIR is also elevated in rad51 mutants, but yku70Delta did not suppress BIR in a rad51 background. These results indicate that Mre11 functions in Rad51-independent BIR, and that Ku functions in Rad51-dependent BIR.     

Differential suppression of DNA repair deficiencies of Yeast rad50, mre11 and xrs2 mutants by EXO1 and TLC1 (the RNA component of telomerase).

Rad50, Mre11, and Xrs2 form a nuclease complex that functions in both nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) and recombinational repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). A search for highly expressed cDNAs that suppress the DNA repair deficiency of rad50 mutants yielded multiple isolates of two genes: EXO1 and TLC1. Overexpression of EXO1 or TLC1 increased the resistance of rad50, mre11, and xrs2 mutants to ionizing radiation and MMS, but did not increase resistance in strains defective in recombination (rad51, rad52, rad54, rad59) or NHEJ only (yku70, sir4). Increased Exo1 or TLC1 RNA did not alter checkpoint responses or restore NHEJ proficiency, but DNA repair defects of yku70 and rad27 (fen) mutants were differentially suppressed by the two genes. Overexpression of Exo1, but not mutant proteins containing substitutions in the conserved nuclease domain, increased recombination and suppressed HO and EcoRI endonuclease-induced killing of rad50 strains. exo1 rad50 mutants lacking both nuclease activities exhibited a high proportion of enlarged, G2-arrested cells and displayed a synergistic decrease in DSB-induced plasmid:chromosome recombination. These results support a model in which the nuclease activity of the Rad50/Mre11/Xrs2 complex is required for recombinational repair, but not NHEJ. We suggest that the 5'-3' exo activity of Exo1 is able to substitute for Rad50/Mre11/Xrs2 in rescission of specific classes of DSB end structures. Gene-specific suppression by TLC1, which encodes the RNA subunit of the yeast telomerase complex, demonstrates that components of telomerase can also impact on DSB repair pathways.     

Structural and functional analysis of Mre11-3

The Mre11, Rad50 and Nbs1 proteins make up the conserved multi-functional Mre11 (MRN) complex involved in multiple, critical DNA metabolic processes including double-strand break repair and telomere maintenance. The Mre11 protein is a nuclease with broad substrate recognition, but MRN-dependent processes requiring the nuclease activity are not clearly defined. Here, we report the functional and structural characterization of a nuclease-deficient Mre11 protein termed mre11-3. Importantly, the hmre11-3 protein has wild-type ability to bind DNA, Rad50 and Nbs1; however, nuclease activity was completely abrogated. When expressed in cell lines from patients with ataxia telangiectasia-like disorder (ATLD), hmre11-3 restored the formation of ionizing radiation-induced foci. Consistent with the biochemical results, the 2.3 Å crystal structure of mre11-3 from Pyrococcus furiosus revealed an active site structure with a wild-type-like metal-binding environment. The structural analysis of the H85L mutation provides a detailed molecular basis for the ability of mre11-3 to bind but not hydrolyze DNA. Together, these results establish that the mre11-3 protein provides an excellent system for dissecting nuclease-dependent and independent functions of the Mre11 complex.     

Interplay of Mre11 Nuclease with Dna2 plus Sgs1 in Rad51-Dependent Recombinational Repair

The Mre11/Rad50/Xrs2 complex initiates IR repair by binding to the end of a double-strand break, resulting in 5′ to 3′ exonuclease degradation creating a single-stranded 3′ overhang competent for strand invasion into the unbroken chromosome. The nuclease(s) involved are not well understood. Mre11 encodes a nuclease, but it has 3′ to 5′, rather than 5′ to 3′ activity. Furthermore, mutations that inactivate only the nuclease activity of Mre11 but not its other repair functions, mre11-D56N and mre11-H125N, are resistant to IR. This suggests that another nuclease can catalyze 5′ to 3′ degradation. One candidate nuclease that has not been tested to date because it is encoded by an essential gene is the Dna2 helicase/nuclease. We recently reported the ability to suppress the lethality of a dna2Δ with a pif1Δ. The dna2Δ pif1Δ mutant is IR-resistant. We have determined that dna2Δ pif1Δ mre11-D56N and dna2Δ pif1Δ mre11-H125N strains are equally as sensitive to IR as mre11Δ strains, suggesting that in the absence of Dna2, Mre11 nuclease carries out repair. The dna2Δ pif1Δ mre11-D56N triple mutant is complemented by plasmids expressing Mre11, Dna2 or dna2K1080E, a mutant with defective helicase and functional nuclease, demonstrating that the nuclease of Dna2 compensates for the absence of Mre11 nuclease in IR repair, presumably in 5′ to 3′ degradation at DSB ends. We further show that sgs1Δ mre11-H125N, but not sgs1Δ, is very sensitive to IR, implicating the Sgs1 helicase in the Dna2-mediated pathway.     

Unloading of homologous recombination factors is required for restoring double‐stranded DNA at damage repair loci

Cells use homology‐dependent DNA repair to mend chromosome breaks and restore broken replication forks, thereby ensuring genome stability and cell survival. DNA break repair via homology‐based mechanisms involves nuclease‐dependent DNA end resection, which generates long tracts of single‐stranded DNA required for checkpoint activation and loading of homologous recombination proteins Rad52/51/55/57. While recruitment of the homologous recombination machinery is well characterized, it is not known how its presence at repair loci is coordinated with downstream re‐synthesis of resected DNA. We show that Rad51 inhibits recruitment of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), the platform for assembly of the DNA replication machinery, and that unloading of Rad51 by Srs2 helicase is required for efficient PCNA loading and restoration of resected DNA. As a result, srs2Δ mutants are deficient in DNA repair correlating with extensive DNA processing, but this defect in srs2Δ mutants can be suppressed by inactivation of the resection nuclease Exo1. We propose a model in which during re‐synthesis of resected DNA, the replication machinery must catch up with the preceding processing nucleases, in order to close the single‐stranded gap and terminate further resection.     

Rad50 is not essential for the Mre11-dependent repair of DNA double-strand breaks in Halobacterium sp. strain NRC-1

The genome of the halophilic archaeon Halobacterium sp. strain NRC-1 encodes homologs of the eukaryotic Mre11 and Rad50 proteins, which are involved in the recognition and end processing of DNA double-strand breaks in the homologous recombination repair pathway. We have analyzed the phenotype of Halobacterium deletion mutants lacking mre11 and/or rad50 after exposure to UV-C radiation, an alkylating agent (N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine), and gamma radiation, none of which resulted in a decrease in survival of the mutant strains compared to that of the background strain. However, a decreased rate of repair of DNA double-strand breaks in strains lacking the mre11 gene was observed using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. These observations led to the hypothesis that Mre11 is essential for the repair of DNA double-strand breaks in Halobacterium, whereas Rad50 is dispensable. This is the first identification of a Rad50-independent function for the Mre11 protein, and it represents a shift in the Archaea away from the eukaryotic model of homologous recombination repair of DNA double-strand breaks.     

Mre11-Rad50 Promotes Rapid Repair of DNA Damage in the Polyploid Archaeon Haloferax volcanii by Restraining Homologous Recombination

Polyploidy is frequent in nature and is a hallmark of cancer cells, but little is known about the strategy of DNA repair in polyploid organisms. We have studied DNA repair in the polyploid archaeon Haloferax volcanii, which contains up to 20 genome copies. We have focused on the role of Mre11 and Rad50 proteins, which are found in all domains of life and which form a complex that binds to and coordinates the repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). Surprisingly, mre11 rad50 mutants are more resistant to DNA damage than the wild-type. However, wild-type cells recover faster from DNA damage, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis shows that DNA double-strand breaks are repaired more slowly in mre11 rad50 mutants. Using a plasmid repair assay, we show that wild-type and mre11 rad50 cells use different strategies of DSB repair. In the wild-type, Mre11-Rad50 appears to prevent the repair of DSBs by homologous recombination (HR), allowing microhomology-mediated end-joining to act as the primary repair pathway. However, genetic analysis of recombination-defective radA mutants suggests that DNA repair in wild-type cells ultimately requires HR, therefore Mre11-Rad50 merely delays this mode of repair. In polyploid organisms, DSB repair by HR is potentially hazardous, since each DNA end will have multiple partners. We show that in the polyploid archaeon H. volcanii the repair of DSBs by HR is restrained by Mre11-Rad50. The unrestrained use of HR in mre11 rad50 mutants enhances cell survival but leads to slow recovery from DNA damage, presumably due to difficulties in the resolution of DNA repair intermediates. Our results suggest that recombination might be similarly repressed in other polyploid organisms and at repetitive sequences in haploid and diploid species.     

Unique and overlapping functions of the Exo1, Mre11 and Pso2 nucleases in DNA repair

The Mre11 and Pso2 nucleases function in homologous recombination and interstrand cross-link (ICL) repair pathways, respectively, while the Exo1 nuclease is involved in homologous recombination and mismatch repair. Characterization of the sensitivity of single, double and triple mutants for these nucleases in Saccharomyces cerevisiae to various DNA damaging agents reveals complex interactions that depend on the type of DNA damage. The pso2 mutant is uniquely sensitive to agents that generate ICLs and mre11-H125N shows the highest sensitivity of the single mutants for ionizing radiation and methyl methane sulfonate. However, elimination of all three nucleases confers higher sensitivity to IR than any of the single or double mutant combinations indicating a high degree of redundancy and versatility in the response to DNA damage. In response to ICL agents, double-strand breaks are still formed in the triple nuclease mutant indicating that none of these nucleases are responsible for unhooking cross-links.     

Evidence for Distinct Functions of MRE11 in Arabidopsis Meiosis

The evolutionary conserved Mre11/Rad50/Nbs1 complex functions as one of the guardians of genome integrity in eukaryotes; it is required for the double-strand break repair, meiosis, DNA checkpoint, and telomere maintenance. To better understand the role of the MRE11 gene in Arabidopsis, we performed comparative analysis of several mre11 alleles with respect to genome stability and meiosis. The mre11-4 and mre11-2 alleles presumably produce truncated MRE11 proteins composed of the first 499 and 529 amino acids, respectively. Although the putative MRE11 truncated proteins differ only by 30 amino acids, the mutants exhibited strikingly different phenotypes in regards to growth morphology, genome stability and meiosis. While the mre11-2 mutants are fully fertile and undergo normal meiosis, the mre11-4 plants are sterile due to aberrant repair of meiotic DNA breaks. Structural homology analysis suggests that the T-DNA insertion in the mre11-4 allele probably disrupted the putative RAD50 interaction and/or homodimerization domain, which is assumed to be preserved in mre11-2 allele. Intriguingly, introgression of the atm-2 mutant plant into the mre11-2 background renders the double mutant infertile, a phenotype not observed in either parent line. This data indicate that MRE11 partially compensates for ATM deficiency in meiosis of Arabidopsis.     

Temporally and biochemically distinct activities of Exo1 during meiosis: double-strand break resection and resolution of double Holliday junctions

The Rad2/XPG family nuclease, Exo1, functions in?a variety of DNA repair pathways. During meiosis, Exo1 promotes crossover recombination and thereby facilitates chromosome segregation at the first division. Meiotic recombination is initiated by programmed DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). Nucleolytic resection of DSBs generates long 3' single-strand tails that undergo strand exchange with a homologous chromosome to form joint molecule (JM) intermediates. We show that meiotic DSB resection is dramatically reduced in exo1Δ mutants and test the idea that Exo1-catalyzed resection promotes crossing over by facilitating formation of crossover-specific JMs called double Holliday junctions (dHJs). Contrary to this idea, dHJs form at wild-type levels in exo1Δ mutants, implying that Exo1 has a second function that promotes resolution of dHJs into crossovers. Surprisingly, the dHJ resolution function of Exo1 is independent of its nuclease activities but requires interaction with the putative endonuclease complex, Mlh1-Mlh3. Thus, the DSB resection and procrossover functions of Exo1 during meiosis involve temporally and biochemically distinct activities.     

Alteration of N-terminal phosphoesterase signature motifs inactivates Saccharomyces cerevisiae Mre11.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae Mre11, Rad50, and Xrs2 function in a protein complex that is important for nonhomologous recombination. Null mutants of MRE11, RAD50, and XRS2 are characterized by ionizing radiation sensitivity and mitotic interhomologue hyperrecombination. We mutagenized the four highly conserved phosphoesterase signature motifs of Mre11 to create mre11-11, mre11-2, mre11-3, and mre11-4 and assessed the functional consequences of these mutant alleles with respect to mitotic interhomologue recombination, chromosome loss, ionizing radiation sensitivity, double-strand break repair, and protein interaction. We found that mre11 mutants that behaved as the null were sensitive to ionizing radiation and deficient in double-strand break repair. We also observed that these null mutants exhibited a hyperrecombination phenotype in mitotic cells, consistent with previous reports, but did not exhibit an increased frequency of chromosome loss. Differential ionizing radiation sensitivities among the hypomorphic mre11 alleles correlated with the trends observed in the other phenotypes examined. Two-hybrid interaction testing showed that all but one of the mre11 mutations disrupted the Mre11-Rad50 interaction. Mutagenesis of the phosphoesterase signatures in Mre11 thus demonstrated the importance of these conserved motifs for recombinational DNA repair.     

Genetic and biochemical evidences reveal novel insights into the mechanism underlying <Emphasis Type="Italic">Saccharomyces cerevisiae</Emphasis> Sae2-mediated abrogation of DNA replication stress

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the Mre11-Rad50-Xrs2 (MRX) protein complex plays pivotal roles in double-strand break (DSB) repair, replication stress and telomere length maintenance. Another protein linked to DSB repair is Sae2, which regulates MRX persistence at DSBs. However, very little is known about its role in DNA replication stress and repair. Here, we reveal a crucial role for Sae2 in DNA replication stress. We show that different mutant alleles of SAE2 cause hypersensitivity to genotoxic agents, and when combined with Δmre11 or nuclease-defective mre11 mutant alleles, the double mutants are considerably more sensitive suggesting that the sae2 mutations synergize with mre11 mutations. Biochemical studies demonstrate that Sae2 exists as a dimer in solution, associates preferentially with single-stranded and branched DNA structures, exhibits structure-specific endonuclease activity and cleaves these substrates from the 5′ end. Furthermore, we show that the nuclease activity is indeed intrinsic to Sae2. Interestingly, sae2^G270D protein possesses DNA-binding activity, but lacks detectable nuclease activity. Altogether, our data suggest a direct role for Sae2 nuclease activity in processing of the DNA structures that arise during replication and DNA damage and provide insights into the mechanism underlying Mre11-Sae2-mediated abrogation of replication stress-related defects in S. cerevisiae.     

Characterization of nuclease-dependent functions of Exo1p in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Exo1p is a member of the Rad2p family of structure-specific nucleases that contain conserved N and I nuclease domains. Exo1p has been implicated in numerous DNA metabolic processes, such as recombination, double-strand break repair and DNA mismatch repair (MMR). In this report, we describe in vitro and in vivo characterization of full-length wild-type and mutant forms of Exo1p. Herein, we demonstrate that full-length yeast Exo1p possesses an intrinsic 5'-3' exonuclease activity as reported previously, but also possesses a flap-endonuclease activity. Our study indicates that Exo1p shares similar, but not identical structure-function relationships to other characterized members of the Rad2p family in the N and I nuclease domains. The two exo1p mutants we examined, showed deficiencies for both double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) 5'-3' exonuclease and flap-endonuclease activities. Examining the genetic interaction of these two exo1 mutations with rad27Delta suggest that the Exo1p flap-endonuclease activity and not the dsDNA 5'-3' exonuclease is redundant to Rad27p for viability. In addition, our in vivo results also indicate that many exo1Delta phenotypes are dependent on the complete catalytic activities of Exo1p. Finally, our findings plus those of other investigators suggest that Exo1p functions both in a catalytic and a structural capacity during DNA MMR.     

Coprinus cinereus rad50 mutants reveal an essential structural role for Rad50 in axial element and synaptonemal complex formation, homolog pairing and meiotic recombination

The Mre11/Rad50/Nbs1 (MRN) complex is required for eukaryotic DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair and meiotic recombination. We cloned the Coprinus cinereus rad50 gene and showed that it corresponds to the complementation group previously named rad12, identified mutations in 15 rad50 alleles, and mapped two of the mutations onto molecular models of Rad50 structure. We found that C. cinereus rad50 and mre11 mutants arrest in meiosis and that this arrest is Spo11 dependent. In addition, some rad50 alleles form inducible, Spo11-dependent Rad51 foci and therefore must be forming meiotic DSBs. Thus, we think it likely that arrest in both mre11-1 and the collection of rad50 mutants is the result of unrepaired or improperly processed DSBs in the genome and that Rad50 and Mre11 are dispensable in C. cinereus for DSB formation, but required for appropriate DSB processing. We found that the ability of rad50 mutant strains to form Rad51 foci correlates with their ability to promote synaptonemal complex formation and with levels of stable meiotic pairing and that partial pairing, recombination initiation, and synapsis occur in the absence of wild-type Rad50 catalytic domains. Examination of single- and double-mutant strains showed that a spo11 mutation that prevents DSB formation enhances axial element (AE) formation for rad50-4, an allele predicted to encode a protein with intact hook region and hook-proximal coiled coils, but not for rad50-1, an allele predicted to encode a severely truncated protein, or for rad50-5, which encodes a protein whose hook-proximal coiled-coil region is disrupted. Therefore, Rad50 has an essential structural role in the formation of AEs, separate from the DSB-processing activity of the MRN complex.     

NurA,a novel 5'-3' nuclease gene linked to rad50 and mre11 homologs of thermophilic Archaea

We isolated and characterized a new nuclease (NurA) exhibiting both single-stranded endonuclease activity and 5′–3′ exonuclease activity on single-stranded and double-stranded DNA from the hyperthermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius. Nuclease homologs are detected in all thermophilic archaea and, in most species, the nurA gene is organized in an operon-like structure with rad50 and mre11 archaeal homologs. This nuclease might thus act in concert with Rad50 and Mre11 proteins in archaeal recombination/repair. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a 5′–3′ nuclease potentially associated with Rad50 and Mre11-like proteins that may lead to the processing of double-stranded breaks in 3′ single-stranded tails.     

Repair of endonuclease-induced double-strand breaks in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: essential role for genes associated with nonhomologous end-joining.

Repair of double-strand breaks (DSBs) in chromosomal DNA by nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) is not well characterized in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here we demonstrate that several genes associated with NHEJ perform essential functions in the repair of endonuclease-induced DSBs in vivo. Galactose-induced expression of EcoRI endonuclease in rad50, mre11, or xrs2 mutants, which are deficient in plasmid DSB end-joining and some forms of recombination, resulted in G2 arrest and rapid cell killing. Endonuclease synthesis also produced moderate cell killing in sir4 strains. In contrast, EcoRI caused prolonged cell-cycle arrest of recombination-defective rad51, rad52, rad54, rad55, and rad57 mutants, but cells remained viable. Cell-cycle progression was inhibited in excision repair-defective rad1 mutants, but not in rad2 cells, indicating a role for Rad1 processing of the DSB ends. Phenotypic responses of additional mutants, including exo1, srs2, rad5, and rdh54 strains, suggest roles in recombinational repair, but not in NHEJ. Interestingly, the rapid cell killing in haploid rad50 and mre11 strains was largely eliminated in diploids, suggesting that the cohesive-ended DSBs could be efficiently repaired by homologous recombination throughout the cell cycle in the diploid mutants. These results demonstrate essential but separable roles for NHEJ pathway genes in the repair of chromosomal DSBs that are structurally similar to those occurring during cellular development.     

RAD50 Is Required for Efficient Initiation of Resection and Recombinational Repair at Random, γ-Induced Double-Strand Break Ends

Resection of DNA double-strand break (DSB) ends is generally considered a critical determinant in pathways of DSB repair and genome stability. Unlike for enzymatically induced site-specific DSBs, little is known about processing of random “dirty-ended” DSBs created by DNA damaging agents such as ionizing radiation. Here we present a novel system for monitoring early events in the repair of random DSBs, based on our finding that single-strand tails generated by resection at the ends of large molecules in budding yeast decreases mobility during pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). We utilized this “PFGE-shift” to follow the fate of both ends of linear molecules generated by a single random DSB in circular chromosomes. Within 10 min after γ-irradiation of G2/M arrested WT cells, there is a near-synchronous PFGE-shift of the linearized circular molecules, corresponding to resection of a few hundred bases. Resection at the radiation-induced DSBs continues so that by the time of significant repair of DSBs at 1 hr there is about 1–2 kb resection per DSB end. The PFGE-shift is comparable in WT and recombination-defective rad52 and rad51 strains but somewhat delayed in exo1 mutants. However, in rad50 and mre11 null mutants the initiation and generation of resected ends at radiation-induced DSB ends is greatly reduced in G2/M. Thus, the Rad50/Mre11/Xrs2 complex is responsible for rapid processing of most damaged ends into substrates that subsequently undergo recombinational repair. A similar requirement was found for RAD50 in asynchronously growing cells. Among the few molecules exhibiting shift in the rad50 mutant, the residual resection is consistent with resection at only one of the DSB ends. Surprisingly, within 1 hr after irradiation, double-length linear molecules are detected in the WT and rad50, but not in rad52, strains that are likely due to crossovers that are largely resection- and RAD50-independent.