Journal
SCIENCE
Volume 327, Issue 5966, Pages 693-696Publisher
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1126/science.1179044
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT), Japan [17080010, 21247003, 17370065]
- Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research [17080010, 21247003, 17370065] Funding Source: KAKEN
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The ribosomal RNA (rDNA) gene repeats are essential housekeeping genes found in all organisms. A gene amplification system maintains large cluster(s) of tandemly repeated copies in the chromosome, with each species having a specific number of copies. Yeast has many untranscribed rDNA copies (extra copies), and we found that when they are lost, the cells become sensitive to DNA damage induced by mutagens. We show that this sensitivity is dependent on rDNA transcriptional activity, which interferes with cohesion between rDNA loci of sister chromatids. The extra rDNA copies facilitate condensin association and sister-chromatid cohesion, thereby facilitating recombinational repair. These results suggest that high concentrations of heavily transcribed genes are toxic to the cells, and therefore amplified genes, such as rDNA, have evolved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available