Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-2015
Publication Title
PLOS One
Publisher
Public Library of Science
Abstract
Meiosis depends on homologous recombination (HR) in most sexually reproducing organisms. Efficient meiotic HR requires the activity of the meiosis-specific recombinase, Dmc1. Previous work shows Dmc1 is expressed in Entamoeba histolytica, a eukaryotic parasite responsible for amoebiasis throughout the world, suggesting this organism undergoes meiosis. Here, we demonstrate Dmc1 protein is expressed in E. histolytica. We show that purified ehDmc1 forms presynaptic filaments and catalyzes ATP-dependent homologous DNA pairing and DNA strand exchange over at least several thousand base pairs. The DNA pairing and strand exchange activities are enhanced by the presence of calcium and the meiosis-specific recombination accessory factor, Hop2-Mnd1. In combination, calcium and Hop2-Mnd1 dramatically increase the rate of DNA strand exchange activity of ehDmc1. The biochemical system described herein provides a basis on which to better understand the role of ehDmc1 and other HR proteins in E. histolytica.
Recommended Citation
Kelso AA, Say AF, Sharma D, Ledford LL, Turchick A, Saski CA, et al. (2015) Entamoeba histolytica Dmc1 Catalyzes Homologous DNA Pairing and Strand Exchange That Is Stimulated by Calcium and Hop2-Mnd1. PLoS ONE 10(9): e0139399. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0139399
Comments
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
The published version can be found here: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0139399