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. 1988 Aug;119(4):751–757. doi: 10.1093/genetics/119.4.751

Double-Stranded Gap Repair of DNA by Gene Conversion in Escherichia Coli

I Kobayashi 1, N Takahashi 1
PMCID: PMC1203461  PMID: 3044922

Abstract

We demonstrated repair of a double-stranded DNA gap through gene conversion by a homologous DNA sequence in Escherichia coli. We made a double-stranded gap in one of the two regions of homology in an inverted orientation on a plasmid DNA molecule and introduced it into an E. coli strain which has the RecE system of recombination (genotype; sbcA23 recB21 recC22). We detected repair products by genetic selection. The repair products were those expected by the double-strand-gap repair model. Gene conversion was frequently accompanied by crossing over of the flanking sequences as in eukaryotes. This double-strand gap repair mechanism can explain plasmid recombination in the absence of an artificial double-stranded break reported in a companion study by Yamamoto et al.

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Selected References

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