Multiple Regulation of Rad51-Mediated Homologous Recombination by Fission Yeast Fbh1

Fbh1, an F-box helicase related to bacterial UvrD, has been proposed to modulate homologous recombination in fission yeast. We provide several lines of evidence for such modulation. Fbh1, but not the related helicases Srs2 and Rqh1, suppressed the formation of crossover recombinants from single HO-induced DNA double-strand breaks. Purified Fbh1 in complex with Skp1 (Fbh1-Skp1 complex) inhibited Rad51-driven DNA strand exchange by disrupting Rad51 nucleoprotein filaments in an ATP-dependent manner; this disruption was alleviated by the Swi5-Sfr1 complex, an auxiliary activator of Rad51. In addition, the reconstituted SCF^Fbh1 complex, composed of purified Fbh1-Skp1 and Pcu1-Rbx1, displayed ubiquitin-ligase E3 activity toward Rad51. Furthermore, Fbh1 reduced the protein level of Rad51 in stationary phase in an F-box-dependent, but not in a helicase domain-independent manner. These results suggest that Fbh1 negatively regulates Rad51-mediated homologous recombination via its two putative, unrelated activities, namely DNA unwinding/translocation and ubiquitin ligation. In addition to its anti-recombinase activity, we tentatively suggest that Fbh1 might also have a pro-recombination role in vivo, because the Fbh1-Skp1 complex stimulated Rad51-mediated strand exchange in vitro after strand exchange had been initiated.     

Rad54 Phosphorylation Promotes Homologous Recombination by Balancing Rad54 Mobility and DNA Binding

The repair of DNA double-strand breaks by homologous recombination is of crucial importance for maintaining genomic stability. Two major players during this repair pathway are Rad51 and Rad54. Previously, it was shown that Rad54 exists as a monomer or oligomer when bound to DNA and drives the displacement of Rad51 by translocating along the DNA. Moreover, phosphorylation of Rad54 was reported to stimulate this clearance of Rad51 from DNA. However, it is currently unclear how phosphorylation of Rad54 modulates its molecular-structural function and how it affects the activity of monomeric or oligomeric Rad54 during the removal of Rad51. To examine the impact of Rad54 phosphorylation on a molecular-structural level, we applied molecular dynamics simulations of Rad54 monomers and hexamers in the absence or presence of DNA. Our results suggest that 1) phosphorylation of Rad54 stabilizes the monomeric form by reducing the interlobe movement of Rad54 monomers and might therefore facilitate multimer formation around DNA and 2) phosphorylation of Rad54 in a higher-order hexamer reduces its binding strength to DNA, which is a requirement for efficient mobility on DNA. To further address the relationship between the mobility of Rad54 and its phosphorylation state, we performed fluorescence recovery after photobleaching experiments in living cells, which expressed different versions of the Rad54 protein. Here, we could measure that the phosphomimetic version of Rad54 was highly mobile on DNA, whereas a nonphosphorylatable mutant displayed a mobility defect. Taken together, these data show that the phosphorylation of Rad54 is a critical event in balancing the DNA binding strength and mobility of Rad54 and might therefore provide optimal conditions for DNA translocation and subsequent removal of Rad51 during homologous recombination repair.     

Plasmid Recombination in a Rad52 Mutant of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae

Using plasmids capable of undergoing intramolecular recombination, we have compared the rates and the molecular outcomes of recombination events in a wild-type and a rad52 strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The plasmids contain his3 heteroalleles oriented in either an inverted or a direct repeat. Inverted repeat plasmids recombine approximately 20-fold less frequently in the mutant than in the wild-type strain. Most events from both cell types have continuous coconversion tracts extending along one of the homologous segments. Reciprocal exchange occurs in fewer than 30% of events. Direct repeat plasmids recombine at rates comparable to those of inverted repeat plasmids in wild-type cells. Direct repeat conversion tracts are similar to inverted repeat conversion tracts in their continuity and length. Inverted and direct repeat plasmid recombination differ in two respects. First, rad52 does not affect the rate of direct repeat recombination as drastically as the rate of inverted repeat recombination. Second, direct repeat plasmids undergo crossing over more frequently than inverted repeat plasmids. In addition, crossovers constitute a larger fraction of mutant than wild-type direct repeat events. Many crossover events from both cell types are unusual in that the crossover HIS3 allele is within a plasmid containing the parental his3 heteroalleles.     

Unrepaired Heteroduplex DNA in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Is Decreased in Rad1 Rad52-Independent Recombination

A direct repeat recombination assay between SUP4 heteroalleles detects unrepaired heteroduplex DNA (hDNA) as sectored colonies. The frequency of unrepaired heteroduplex is dependent on the mismatch and is highest in a construct that generates C:C or G:G mispairs and lowest in one that generates T:G or C:A mispairs. In addition, unrepaired hDNA increases for all mismatches tested in pms1 mismatch repair-deficient strains. These results support the notion that hDNA is formed across the SUP4 repeats during the recombination event and is then subject to mismatch repair. The effects of various repair and recombination defective mutations on this assay were examined. Unrepaired heteroduplex increases significantly only in rad52 mutant strains. In addition, direct repeat recombination is reduced 2-fold in rad52 mutant strains, while in rad51, rad54, rad55 and rad57 mutants direct repeat recombination is increased 3-4-fold. Mutations in the excision repair gene, RAD1, do not affect the frequency of direct repeat recombination. However, the level of unrepaired heteroduplex is slightly decreased in rad1 mutant strains. Similar to previous studies, rad1 rad52 double mutants show a synergistic reduction in direct repeat recombination (35-fold). Interestingly, unrepaired heteroduplex is reduced 4-fold in the double mutants. Experiments with shortened repeats suggest that the reduction in unrepaired heteroduplex is due to decreased hDNA tract length in the double mutant strain.     

Rad51 and Rad52 Are Involved in Homologous Recombination of Replicating Herpes Simplex Virus DNA

Replication of herpes simplex virus 1 is coupled to recombination, but the molecular mechanisms underlying this process are poorly characterized. The role of Rad51 and Rad52 recombinases in viral recombination was examined in human fibroblast cells 1BR.3.N (wild type) and in GM16097 with replication defects caused by mutations in DNA ligase I. Intermolecular recombination between viruses, tsS and tsK, harboring genetic markers gave rise to ∼17% recombinants in both cell lines. Knock-down of Rad51 and Rad52 by siRNA reduced production of recombinants to 11% and 5%, respectively, in wild type cells and to 3% and 5%, respectively, in GM16097 cells. The results indicate a specific role for Rad51 and Rad52 in recombination of replicating herpes simplex virus 1 DNA. Mixed infections using clinical isolates with restriction enzyme polymorphisms in the US4 and US7 genes revealed recombination frequencies of 0.7%/kbp in wild type cells and 4%/kbp in GM16097 cells. Finally, tandem repeats in the US7 gene remained stable upon serial passage, indicating a high fidelity of recombination in infected cells.     

Drug Synergy Drives Conserved Pathways to Increase Fission Yeast Lifespan

Aging occurs over time with gradual and progressive loss of physiological function. Strategies to reduce the rate of functional loss and mitigate the subsequent onset of deadly age-related diseases are being sought. We demonstrated previously that a combination of rapamycin and myriocin reduces age-related functional loss in the Baker’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and produces a synergistic increase in lifespan. Here we show that the same drug combination also produces a synergistic increase in the lifespan of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe and does so by controlling signal transduction pathways conserved across a wide evolutionary time span ranging from yeasts to mammals. Pathways include the target of rapamycin complex 1 (TORC1) protein kinase, the protein kinase A (PKA) and a stress response pathway, which in fission yeasts contains the Sty1 protein kinase, an ortholog of the mammalian p38 MAP kinase, a type of Stress Activated Protein Kinase (SAPK). These results along with previous studies in S. cerevisiae support the premise that the combination of rapamycin and myriocin enhances lifespan by regulating signaling pathways that couple nutrient and environmental conditions to cellular processes that fine-tune growth and stress protection in ways that foster long term survival. The molecular mechanisms for fine-tuning are probably species-specific, but since they are driven by conserved nutrient and stress sensing pathways, the drug combination may enhance survival in other organisms.     

Dynamic Regulatory Interactions of Rad51, Rad52, and Replication Protein-A in Recombination Intermediates

Rad51, Rad52, and replication protein-A (RPA) play crucial roles in the repair of DNA double-strand breaks in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Rad51 mediates DNA strand exchange, a key reaction in DNA recombination. Rad52 recruits Rad51 into single-stranded DNAs (ssDNAs) that are saturated with RPA. Rad52 also promotes annealing of ssDNA strands that are complexed with RPA. Specific protein-protein interactions are involved in these reactions. Here we report new biochemical characteristics of these protein interactions. First, Rad52-RPA interaction requires multiple molecules of RPA to be associated with ssDNA, suggesting that multiple contacts between the Rad52 ring and RPA-ssDNA filament are needed for stable binding. Second, RPA-t11, which is a recombination-deficient mutant of RPA, displays a defect in interacting with Rad52 in the presence of salt above 50 mM, explaining the defect in Rad52-mediated ssDNA annealing in the presence of this mutation. Third, ssDNA annealing promoted by Rad52 is preceded by aggregation of multiple RPA-ssDNA complexes with Rad52, and Rad51 inhibits this aggregation. These results suggest a regulatory role for Rad51 that suppresses ssDNA annealing and facilitates DNA strand invasion. Finally, the Rad51-double-stranded DNA complex disrupts Rad52-RPA interaction in ssDNA and titrates Rad52 from RPA. This suggests an additional regulatory role for Rad51 following DNA strand invasion, where Rad51-double-stranded DNA may inhibit illegitimate second-end capture to ensure the error-free repair of a DNA double-strand break.     

Stress Activated Protein Kinase Pathway Modulates Homologous Recombination in Fission Yeast

Rad52 is a key player in homologous recombination (HR), a DNA repair pathway that is dedicated to double strand breaks repair and recovery of perturbed replication forks. Here we show that fission yeast Rad52 homologue is phosphorylated when S phase cells are exposed to ROS inducers such as ultraviolet A radiation or hydrogen peroxide, but not to ultraviolet C or camptothecin. Phosphorylation does not depend on kinases Chk1, Rad3, Tel1 or Cdc2, but depends on a functional stress activated protein kinase (SAPK) pathway and can be partially prevented by anti-oxidant treatment. Indeed, cells lacking Sty1, the major fission yeast MAP kinase of the SAPK pathway, do not display Rad52 phosphorylation and have UVA induced Rad52 foci that persist longer if compared to wild type cells. In addition, spontaneous intrachromosomal HR is diminished in cells lacking Sty1 and, more precisely, gene conversion is affected. Moreover, HR induced by site-specific arrest of replication forks is twice less efficient in cells that do not express Sty1. Importantly, impairing HR by deletion of the gene encoding the recombinase Rhp51 leads to Sty1 dependent Rad52 phosphorylation. Thus, SAPK pathway impinges on early step of HR through phosphorylation of Rad52 in cells challenged by oxidative stress or lacking Rhp51 and is required to promote spontaneous gene conversion and recovery from blocked replication forks.     

Double-Strand Break-Induced Mitotic Intrachromosomal Recombination in the Fission Yeast Schizosaccharomyces Pombe

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae HO gene and MATa cutting site were used to introduce site-specific double-strand breaks (DSBs) within intrachromosomal recombination substrates in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. The recombination substrates consisted of nontandem direct repeats of ade6 heteroalleles. DSB induction stimulated the frequency of recombinants 2000-fold. The spectrum of DSB-induced recombinants depended on whether the DSB was introduced within one of the ade6 repeats or in intervening unique DNA. When the DSB was introduced within unique DNA, over 99.8% of the recombinants lacked the intervening DNA but retained one copy of ade6 that was wild type or either one of the heteroalleles. When the DSB was located in duplicated DNA, 77% of the recombinants were similar to the deletion types described above, but the single ade6 copy was either wild type or exclusively that of the uncut repeat. The remaining 23% of the induced recombinants were gene convertants with two copies of ade6 and the intervening sequences; the ade6 heteroallele in which the DSB was induced was the recipient of genetic information. Half-sectored colonies were isolated, analyzed and interpreted as evidence of heteroduplex DNA formation. The results are discussed in terms of current models for recombination.     

Two Portable Recombination Enhancers Direct Donor Choice in Fission Yeast Heterochromatin

Mating-type switching in fission yeast results from gene conversions of the active mat1 locus by heterochromatic donors. mat1 is preferentially converted by mat2-P in M cells and by mat3-M in P cells. Here, we report that donor choice is governed by two portable recombination enhancers capable of promoting use of their adjacent cassette even when they are transposed to an ectopic location within the mat2-mat3 heterochromatic domain. Cells whose silent cassettes are swapped to mat2-M mat3-P switch mating-type poorly due to a defect in directionality but cells whose recombination enhancers were transposed together with the cassette contents switched like wild type. Trans-acting mutations that impair directionality affected the wild-type and swapped cassettes in identical ways when the recombination enhancers were transposed together with their cognate cassette, showing essential regulatory steps occur through the recombination enhancers. Our observations lead to a model where heterochromatin biases competitions between the two recombination enhancers to achieve directionality.     

Analysis of Meiotic Recombination Pathways in the Yeast Saccharomyces Cerevisiae

In the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, several genes appear to act early in meiotic recombination. HOP1 and RED1 have been classified as such early genes. The data in this paper demonstrate that neither a red1 nor a hop1 mutation can rescue the inviable spores produced by a rad52 spo13 strain; this phenotype helps to distinguish these two genes from other early meiotic recombination genes such as SPO11, REC104, or MEI4. In contrast, either a red1 or a hop1 mutation can rescue a rad50S spo13 strain; this phenotype is similar to that conferred by mutations in the other early recombination genes (e.g., REC104). These two different results can be explained because the data presented here indicate that a rad50S mutation does not diminish meiotic intrachromosomal recombination, similar to the mutant phenotypes conferred by red1 or hop1. Of course, RED1 and HOP1 do act in the normal meiotic interchromosomal recombination pathway; they reduce interchromosomal recombination to ~10% of normal levels. We demonstrate that a mutation in a gene (REC104) required for initiation of exchange is completely epistatic to a mutation in RED1. Finally, mutations in either HOP1 or RED1 reduce the number of double-strand breaks observed at the HIS2 meiotic recombination hotspot.     

Rad18 Is Required for DNA Repair and Checkpoint Responses in Fission Yeast

To survive damage to the genome, cells must respond by activating both DNA repair and checkpoint responses. Using genetic screens in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, we recently isolated new genes required for DNA damage checkpoint control. We show here that one of these strains defines a new allele of the previously described rad18 gene, rad18-74. rad18 is an essential gene, even in the absence of extrinsic DNA damage. It encodes a conserved protein related to the structural maintenance of chromosomes proteins. Point mutations in rad18 lead to defective DNA repair pathways responding to both UV-induced lesions and, as we show here, double-stranded breaks. Furthermore, rad18p is required to maintain cell cycle arrest in the presence of DNA damage, and failure of this leads to highly aberrant mitoses. A gene encoding a BRCT-containing protein, brc1, was isolated as an allele-specific high-copy suppressor of rad18-74. brc1 is required for mitotic fidelity and for cellular viability in strains with rad18 mutations but is not essential for DNA damage responses. Mutations in rad18 and brc1 are synthetically lethal with a topoisomerase II mutant (top2-191), indicating that these proteins play a role in chromatin organization. These studies show a role for chromatin organization in the maintenance or activation of responses to DNA damage.     

Different Types of Recombination Events Are Controlled by the Rad1 and Rad52 Genes of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae

Intrachromosomal recombination within heteroallelic duplications located on chromosomes III and XV of Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been examined. Both possible orientations of alleles have been used in each duplication. Three recombinant classes, gene conversions, pop-outs and triplications, were recovered. Some of the recombinant classes were not anticipated from the particular allele orientation of the duplication. Recovery of these unexpected recombinants requires the RAD1 gene. These studies show that RAD1 has a role in recombination between repeated sequences, and that the recombination event is a gene conversion associated with a crossover. These events appear to involve very localized conversion of a heteroduplex region and are distinct from RAD52 mediated gene conversion events. Evidence is also presented to suggest that most recombination events between direct repeats are intrachromatid, not between sister chromatids.     

Effects of Mutations of Rad50, Rad51, Rad52, and Related Genes on Illegitimate Recombination in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae

To examine the mechanism of illegitimate recombination in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we have developed a plasmid system for quantitative analysis of deletion formation. A can1 cyh2 cell carrying two negative selection markers, the CAN1 and CYH2 genes, on a YCp plasmid is sensitive to canavanine and cycloheximide, but the cell becomes resistant to both drugs when the plasmid has a deletion over the CAN1 and CYH2 genes. Structural analysis of the recombinant plasmids obtained from the resistant cells showed that the plasmids had deletions at various sites of the CAN1-CYH2 region and there were only short regions of homology (1-5 bp) at the recombination junctions. The results indicated that the deletion detected in this system were formed by illegitimate recombination. Study on the effect of several rad mutations showed that the recombination rate was reduced by 30-, 10-, 10-, and 10-fold in the rad52, rad50, mre11, and xrs2 mutants, respectively, while in the rad51, 54, 55, and 57 mutants, the rate was comparable to that in the wild-type strain. The rad52 mutation did not affect length of homology at junction sites of illegitimate recombination.     

Role of Reciprocal Exchange, One-Ended Invasion Crossover and Single-Strand Annealing on Inverted and Direct Repeat Recombination in Yeast: Different Requirements for the Rad1, Rad10, and Rad52 Genes

We have constructed novel DNA substrates (one inverted and three direct repeats) based on the same 0.6-kb repeat sequence to study deletions and inversions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Spontaneous deletions occur six to eight times more frequently than inversions, irrespective of the distance between the repeats. This difference can be explained by the observation that deletion events can be mediated by a recombination mechanism that can initiate within the intervening sequence of the repeats. Spontaneous and double-strand break (DSB) -induced deletions occur as RAD52-dependent and RAD52-independent events. Those deletion events initiated through a DSB in the unique intervening sequence require the Rad1/Rad10 endonuclease only if the break is distantly located from the flanking DNA repeats. We propose that deletions can occur as three types of recombination events: the conservative RAD52-dependent reciprocal exchange and the nonconservative events, one-ended invasion crossover, and single-strand annealing (SSA). We suggest that one-ended invasion is RAD52 dependent, whereas SSA is RAD52 independent. Whereas deletions, like inversions, occur through reciprocal exchange, deletions can also occur through SSA or one-ended invasion. We propose that the contribution of reciprocal exchange and one-ended invasion crossover vs. SSA events to overall spontaneous deletions is a feature specific for each repeat system, determined by the initiation event and the availability of the Rad52 protein. We discuss the role of the Rad1/Rad10 endonuclease on the initial steps of one-ended invasion crossover and SSA as a function of the location of the initiation event relative to the repeats. We also show that the frequency of recombination between repeats is the same independent of their location (whether on circular plasmids, linear minichromosomes, or natural chromosomes) and have similar RAD52 dependence.     

Plasmid Construction Using Recombination Activity in the Fission Yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe

Background

Construction of plasmids is crucial in modern genetic manipulation. As of now, the common method for constructing plasmids is to digest specific DNA sequences with restriction enzymes and to ligate the resulting DNA fragments with DNA ligase. Another potent method to construct plasmids, known as gap-repair cloning (GRC), is commonly used in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. GRC makes use of the homologous recombination activity that occurs within the yeast cells. Due to its flexible design and efficiency, GRC has been frequently used for constructing plasmids with complex structures as well as genome-wide plasmid collections. Although there have been reports indicating GRC feasibility in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, this species is not commonly used for GRC as systematic studies of reporting GRC efficiency in S. pombe have not been performed till date.

Methodology/Principal Findings

We investigated GRC efficiency in S. pombe in this study. We first showed that GRC was feasible in S. pombe by constructing a plasmid that contained the LEU2 auxotrophic marker gene in vivo and showed sufficient efficiency with short homology sequences (>25 bp). No preference was shown for the sequence length from the cut site in the vector plasmid. We next showed that plasmids could be constructed in a proper way using 3 DNA fragments with 70% efficiency without any specific selections being made. The GRC efficiency with 3 DNA fragments was dramatically increased >95% in lig4Δ mutant cell, where non-homologous end joining is deficient. Following this approach, we successfully constructed plasmid vectors with leu1+, ade6+, his5+, and lys1+ markers with the low-copy stable plasmid pDblet as a backbone by applying GRC in S. pombe.

Conclusions/Significance

We concluded that GRC was sufficiently feasible in S. pombe for genome-wide gene functional analysis as well as for regular plasmid construction. Plasmids with different markers constructed in this research are available from NBRP-yeast (http://yeast.lab.nig.ac.jp/).     

Fission Yeast Shelterin Regulates DNA Polymerases and Rad3ATR Kinase to Limit Telomere Extension

Studies in fission yeast have previously identified evolutionarily conserved shelterin and Stn1-Ten1 complexes, and established Rad3^ATR/Tel1^ATM-dependent phosphorylation of the shelterin subunit Ccq1 at Thr93 as the critical post-translational modification for telomerase recruitment to telomeres. Furthermore, shelterin subunits Poz1, Rap1 and Taz1 have been identified as negative regulators of Thr93 phosphorylation and telomerase recruitment. However, it remained unclear how telomere maintenance is dynamically regulated during the cell cycle. Thus, we investigated how loss of Poz1, Rap1 and Taz1 affects cell cycle regulation of Ccq1 Thr93 phosphorylation and telomere association of telomerase (Trt1^TERT), DNA polymerases, Replication Protein A (RPA) complex, Rad3^ATR-Rad26^ATRIP checkpoint kinase complex, Tel1^ATM kinase, shelterin subunits (Tpz1, Ccq1 and Poz1) and Stn1. We further investigated how telomere shortening, caused by trt1Δ or catalytically dead Trt1-D743A, affects cell cycle-regulated telomere association of telomerase and DNA polymerases. These analyses established that fission yeast shelterin maintains telomere length homeostasis by coordinating the differential arrival of leading (Polε) and lagging (Polα) strand DNA polymerases at telomeres to modulate Rad3^ATR association, Ccq1 Thr93 phosphorylation and telomerase recruitment.     

Fission Yeast Tel1ATM and Rad3ATR Promote Telomere Protection and Telomerase Recruitment

The checkpoint kinases ATM and ATR are redundantly required for maintenance of stable telomeres in diverse organisms, including budding and fission yeasts, Arabidopsis, Drosophila, and mammals. However, the molecular basis for telomere instability in cells lacking ATM and ATR has not yet been elucidated fully in organisms that utilize both the telomere protection complex shelterin and telomerase to maintain telomeres, such as fission yeast and humans. Here, we demonstrate by quantitative chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays that simultaneous loss of Tel1^ATM and Rad3^ATR kinases leads to a defect in recruitment of telomerase to telomeres, reduced binding of the shelterin complex subunits Ccq1 and Tpz1, and increased binding of RPA and homologous recombination repair factors to telomeres. Moreover, we show that interaction between Tpz1-Ccq1 and telomerase, thought to be important for telomerase recruitment to telomeres, is disrupted in tel1Δ rad3Δ cells. Thus, Tel1^ATM and Rad3^ATR are redundantly required for both protection of telomeres against recombination and promotion of telomerase recruitment. Based on our current findings, we propose the existence of a regulatory loop between Tel1^ATM/Rad3^ATR kinases and Tpz1-Ccq1 to ensure proper protection and maintenance of telomeres in fission yeast.