Intrachromosomal recombination between direct repeats in Penicillium chrysogenum: gene conversion and deletion events

Recombination between direct repeats has been studied in Penicillium chrysogenum using strain TD7-88 (lys^? pyr⁺), which contains two inactive copies of the lys2 gene separated by 4.5?kb of DNA (including the pyrG gene) in its genome. Gene conversion leading to products with the lys⁺ pyr⁺ phenotype was observed at a frequency of 1 in 3.2?×?10³ viable spores. Two types of deletion events giving rise to lys⁺ pyr^? and lys^? pyr^? phenotypes were obtained with different frequencies. Southern analysis revealed that gene conversion occurs mainly as a result of crossing over events that remove the BamHI frameshift mutation present in one of the repeats. In lys^? pyr^? recombinants, the deletion events do not affect the frameshift mutation in the BamHI site, while lys⁺ pyr^? recombinants showed repair of the BamHI frameshift mutation and the genotype of the parental non-disrupted strain was restored. In summary, deletion events in P. chrysogenum tend to favor the restoration of the phenotype and genotype characteristic of the parental non-disrupted strain.