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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2011 May 14.
Published in final edited form as: J Mol Biol. 2010 Mar 27;398(4):471–480. doi: 10.1016/j.jmb.2010.03.035

Figure 4.

Figure 4

Model of Z-DNA-induced DSB processing by HR and/or NHEJ pathways. (a) Z-DNA-induced DSBs may be processed by several different mechanisms, such as HR, NHEJ, and/or other processes (e.g. direct ligation of DNA breaks). “Del/GR” is deletion/gross rearrangement, “Del/Ins” is deletion/insertion. (b) In cells where NHEJ is available and HR is suppressed (due to RecB deficiency in our experimental system, or from a lack of homologous donor sequence in mammalian cells at G1 or resting phase), the Z-DNA-induced DSBs can be processed into large deletions. (c) In the absence of NHEJ, as is the situation in E.coli, DSBs are largely repaired via HR mechanisms, which may result in small expansions/contractions within the repeat due to misalignment events.