Recombination factors of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been an excellent genetic an d biochemical model for our understanding of homologous recombination. Cent ral to the process of homologous recombination are the products of the RAD5 2 epistasis group of genes, whose functions we now know include the nucleol ytic processing of DNA double-stand breaks, the ability to conduct a DNA ho mology search, and the capacity to promote the exchange of genetic informat ion between homologous regions on recombining chromosomes. It is also clear that the basic functions of the RAD52 group of genes have been highly cons erved among eukaryotes. Disruption of this important process causes genomic instability, which can result in a number of unsavory consequences, includ ing tumorigenesis and cell death. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.