INSIGHTS INTO THE MECHANISMS OF HOMOLOGOUS RECOMBINATION FROM THE STRUCTURE OF RUVA

The recent structure determination of RuvA has provided the first insi ghts into the structural basis for its interaction with Holliday junct ion DNA. Multiple copies of a helix-hairpin-helix motif which line the four grooves between the monomers in the tetrameric structure are tho ught to be involved in the interaction of the protein with its DNA tar get. This suggests that the four arms of the junction are held by RuvA in a fourfold symmetric arrangement and has fuelled ideas on the way in which components of the Ruv complex combine to catalyse the process of homologous recombination. (C) Current Biology Ltd ISSN 0959-440X.