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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Oct 1.
Published in final edited form as: Trends Genet. 2011 Jul 21;27(10):411–421. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2011.06.007

Table 1.

Proteins involved in meiotic recombination.

Protein Function
Bas1, Bas2, Rap1 S. cerevisiae transcription factors that regulate meiotic recombination at some loci.
Brc-1 C. elegans DSB repair and recombination protein, homologous to mammalian BRCA1.
Ctp1 S. pombe protein involved in Rec12-oligonucleotide removal; called Sae2 in S. cerevisiae.
Clr4 S. pombe histone H3 methyltransferase specific for lysine 9. Methylated histone H3-K9 is associated with transcriptionally repressed (heterochromatic) regions.
Dmc1 Meiosis-specific DNA strand-exchange protein; paralog of Rad51.
Dpy-28 C. elegans condensin I complex protein that regulates crossover distribution in meiotic cells.
Exo1 5' to 3' exonuclease and flap endonuclease involved in DSB resection.
Hop1 S. cerevisiae protein present in axial elements; localization depends on Red1.
Him-17 C. elegans chromatin-associated protein
Hsk1 S. pombe protein kinase needed for meiotic DSB formation.
Kle-2 C. elegans condensin II complex protein that regulates crossover distribution in meiotic cells.
Mek1 S. cerevisiae meiosis-specific protein kinase that functions with Red1 and Hop1.
Mer2 S. cerevisiae protein required for DSB formation; a “meiotic break protein” in Figure 1.
MRN S. pombe Mre11, Rad50, Nbs1 proteins involved in DSB repair. Known as MRX in budding yeast where Xrs2 replaces Nbs1.
Pch2 S. cerevisiae meiotic checkpoint protein that inhibits chromosome segregation when meiotic recombination is delayed or aberrant.
Rad51 DNA strand-exchange protein required for recombination; ortholog of bacterial RecA.
Rad54 ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling factor that stimulates DNA strand-exchange during recombination.
Rec8 Meiosis-specific subunits of sister chromatid cohesin; S. pombe Red 11 is another meiosis-specific subunit.
Rec25 S. pombe linear element protein; functions with Rec10 and Rec27.
Red1 S. cerevisiae protein component of axial elements and the lateral elements of the synaptonemal complex.
RTEL-1 Human DNA helicase; C. elegans homolog has anti-recombination activity.
Set1 S. cerevisiae histone H3 methyltransferase specific for lysine 4; mammalian Prdm9 also has a SET domain and methylates histone H3-K4. Methylated histone H3-K4 is mostly associated with actively transcribed (euchromatic) regions.
Sir2 S. cerevisiae histone deacetylase
Smc5, Smc6 Structural maintenance of chromosomes proteins; present in a complex important for DNA repair.
Spo11 DNA topoisomerase II-like protein that makes meiotic DSBs; called Rec12 in S. pombe and Mei-W68 in Drosophila.
Swi5 Mitotic and meiotic DNA repair protein; an “accessory protein” in Figure 1.
Xnd-1 C. elegans chromatin protein that affects crossover distribution
ZMM S. cerevisiae Zip1, 2, 3, 4, Msh4, 5 and Mer3 proteins in the synaptonemal complex.