G. Petukhova et al., Single strand DNA binding and annealing activities in the yeast recombination factor Rad59, J BIOL CHEM, 274(48), 1999, pp. 33839-33842
Saccharomyces cerevisiae RAD59 gene is required for homologous recombinatio
n processes and normal level of resistance to ionizing radiation. To study
the biochemical functions of Rad59, it was overproduced in yeast and purifi
ed to near homogeneity. Rad59 binds DNA, showing much higher affinity for s
sDNA than dsDNA. Rad59 also anneals complementary DNA strands, and order of
addition experiments indicate that maximal annealing efficiency is achieve
d when both complementary DNA strands are present upon addition of Rad59, T
hus, Rad59 resembles its homolog Rad52 in being able to bind ssDNA and anne
al complementary DNA strands. However, unlike Rad52, DNA annealing by Rad59
is not accelerated by the ssDNA binding factor RPA. DNA binding and strand
annealing are likely to be important for the biological functions of Rad59
in general recombination and in the single-strand annealing pathway of rec
ombination.