WHY DOES RECA PROTEIN HYDROLYZE ATP

RecA is a DNA-dependent ATPase involved in DNA-strand repair. Most of the ATP hydrolysis that occurs in a RecA nucleoprotein filament is imp licitly considered to be irrelevant in many current models for RecA-me diated DNA-strand exchange. However, preventing RecA from hydrolysing ATP alters its behavior, suggesting that ATP hydrolysis by RecA is mor e than incidental. This review explores recent results detailing the e ffects and rates of ATP hydrolysis by RecA, and models are proposed th at permit us to account quantitatively for ATP consumption by this pro tein.