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PubMed2004

Gene conversion and crossing over along the 405-kb left arm of Saccharomyces cerevisiae chromosome VII.

Gene conversions and crossing over were analyzed along 10 intervals in a 405-kb region comprising nearly all of the left arm of chromosome VII in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Crossover interference was detected in all intervals as measured by a reduced number of nonparental ditypes. We have evaluated interference between crossovers in adjacent intervals by methods that retain the information contained in tetrads as opposed to single segregants. Interference was seen between intervals when the distance in the region adjacent to a crossover was < approximately 35 cM (90 kb). At the met13 locus, which exhibits approximately 9% gene conversions, those gene conversions accompanied by crossing over exerted interference in exchanges in an adjacent interval, whereas met13 gene conversions without an accompanying exchange did not show interference. The pattern of exchanges along this chromosome arm can be represented by a counting model in which there are three nonexchange events between adjacent exchanges; however, maximum-likelihood analysis suggests that approximately 8-12% of the crossovers on chromosome VII arise by a separate, noninterfering mechanism.

Chromosome Mapping↗
PubMed2001

Interchromosomal gene conversion at an endogenous human cell locus.

To examine the relationship between gene conversion and reciprocal exchange at an endogenous chromosomal locus, we developed a reversion assay in a thymidine kinase deficient mutant, TX545, derived from the human lymphoblastoid cell line TK6. Selectable revertants of TX545 can be generated through interchromosomal gene conversion at the site of inactivating mutations on each tk allele or by reciprocal exchange that alters the linkage relationships of inactivating polymorphisms within the tk locus. Analysis of loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at intragenic polymorphisms and flanking microsatellite markers was used to initially evaluate allelotypes in TK(+) revertants for patterns associated with either gene conversion or crossing over. The linkage pattern in a subset of convertants was then unambiguously established, even in the event of prereplicative recombinational exchanges, by haplotype analysis of flanking microsatellite loci in tk(-/-) LOH mutants collected from the tk(+/-) parental convertant. Some (7/38; 18%) revertants were attributable to easily discriminated nonrecombinational mechanisms, including suppressor mutations within the tk coding sequence. However, all revertants classified as a recombinational event (28/38; 74%) were attributed to localized gene conversion, representing a highly significant preference (P < 0.0001) over gene conversion with associated reciprocal exchange, which was never observed.

Alleles↗
PubMed1991

Selective expression of RAG-2 in chicken B cells undergoing immunoglobulin gene conversion.

Chickens create their immunoglobulin (Ig) repertoires during B cell development in the bursa of Fabricius by intrachromosomal gene conversion. Recent evidence has suggested that Ig gene conversion may involve cis-acting DNA elements related to those involved in V(D)J recombination. Therefore, we have examined the potential role of the V(D)J recombination activating genes, RAG-1 and RAG-2, in regulating chicken Ig gene conversion. In contrast to the coexpression of RAG-1 and RAG-2 observed in mammalian B cells that undergo V(D)J recombination, chicken B cells isolated from the bursa of Fabricius express high levels of the RAG-2 mRNA but do not express RAG-1 mRNA. The developmental and phenotypic characteristics of the bursal lymphocytes and chicken B cell lines that express RAG-2 mRNA demonstrate that selective RAG-2 expression occurs specifically in B cells undergoing Ig diversification by gene conversion. These data suggest that RAG-2 plays a fundamental role in Ig-specific gene conversion.

Actins↗
PubMed1989

Heterogeneity of the gamma-globin gene sequences in Japanese individuals: implication of gene conversion in generation of polymorphisms.

The linked fetal globin genes (the G gamma- and A gamma-globin genes) were cloned from Japanese individuals with three different haplotypes of the HindIII polymorphisms within the gamma-globin genes. Determination of nucleotide sequences of the segment spanning from IVS2 to the 3' flanking region of each gamma-globin gene revealed that nucleotide differences are located at 43 positions and a stretch of simple GT or GC sequences. Almost half of the nucleotide changes could be accounted for by gene conversion between the G gamma- and A gamma-globin genes. We found that gene conversion had created the SacI polymorphic site just downstream of the A gamma-globin coding region. Association of the SacI polymorphic site with the HindIII polymorphic site suggests that the region containing these two sites was derived from that of the linked G gamma-globin gene through a gene conversion event. The nucleotide sequences obtained here are identical to those of the Caucasoid fetal globin genes of the same haplotypes, with the exception of some sequence changes in the hot spots of mutations. These results indicate that the sequence heterogeneity of the gamma-globin genes can be classified into three major categories according to HindIII haplotypes. The possible mechanisms of generation of the heterogeneity of the gamma-globin gene sequences are discussed.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1988

[Rapid postradiation recovery of yeasts: the relationship to gamma-induced reciprocal mitotic recombination and gene conversion].

gamma-induced reciprocal mitotic recombination and gene conversion have been studied under conditions inhibiting "rapid" postirradiation recovery of diploid yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It turned out that, if the first postirradiation cell division occurs at higher KCl concentrations ("rapid" postirradiation recovery is inhibited), the frequency of mitotic reciprocal recombination within the gene ADE2-centromere region decreases. Keeping of irradiated cells (in the G1 phase of the cell division cycle) in water at 28 degrees C prior to plating on the selective agar containing 1.5 M KCl leads to smaller frequency of gene conversion lys2-25/lys2-22----Lys+, as compared with that for the cells immediately plated on the selective agar. Correlation has been found between the coefficient of gene conversion frequency decrease, due to postirradiation keeping in water, and "rapid" recovery efficiency. Interpretation of the data is based on the hypothesis that recombination repair of DNA double-strand breaks induced by ionizing radiation is responsible for "rapid" postirradiation recovery.

DNA↗
PubMed1976

Gene conversion: a hitherto overlooked parameter in population genetics.

Gene conversion causes deviations from the 2:2 segregation of allele pairs in meiosis. Thus, gene conversion is a potential cause for changes of allele frequencies in populations. Equations are derived for the effects of conversion in a large random-mating population. The influence of gene conversion on allele frequencies is compared with that of spontaneous mutation and meiotic drive.

Alleles↗
PubMed1987

Effect of the molecular nature of mutation on the efficiency of intrachromosomal gene conversion in mouse cells.

With the intent of further exploring the nature of gene conversion in mammalian cells, we systematically addressed the effects of the molecular nature of mutation on the efficiency of intrachromosomal gene conversion in cultured mouse cells. Comparison of conversion rates revealed that all mutations studied were suitable substrates for gene conversion; however, we observed that the rates at which different mutations converted to wild-type could differ by two orders of magnitude. Differences in conversion rates were correlated with the molecular nature of the mutations. In general, rates of conversion decreased with increasing size of the molecular lesions. In comparisons of conversion rates for single base pair insertions and deletions we detected a genotype-directed path for conversion, by which an insertion was converted to wild-type three to four times more efficiently than was a deletion which maps to the same site. The data are discussed in relation to current theories of gene conversion, and are consistent with the idea that gene conversion in mammalian cells can result from repair of heteroduplex DNA (hDNA) intermediates.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Evolution of the segregation ratio: modification of gene conversion and meiotic drive.

We compare the evolutionary pressures that direct the modification of gene conversion and meiotic drive at loci subject to purifying and overdominant viability selection. Gene conversion differs from meiotic drive in that modifers do not affect their own segregation ratios, even when linked to the viability locus. Segregation distortion generates gametic level disequilibria between alleles at the viability locus and modifiers of gene conversion and meiotic drive: enhancers of segregation distortion become positively associated with driven alleles. Suppression of gene conversion evolves if the driven allele is marginally disadvantageous (overdominant viability selection), and higher rates evolve if the driven alleles are relatively advantageous (purifying viability selection). Gametic disequilibria permit enhancers of meiotic drive that are linked to the driven locus to promote their own segregation. We attribute the failure of genetic modifiers of gene conversion and meiotic drive to maximinize mean fitness to the generation of such associations.

Biological Evolution↗
PubMed2003

Biased gene conversion: implications for genome and sex evolution.

Classical genetic studies show that gene conversion can favour some alleles over others. Molecular experiments suggest that gene conversion could favour GC over AT basepairs, leading to the concept of biased gene conversion towards GC (BGC(GC)). The expected consequence of such a process is the GC-enrichment of DNA sequences under gene conversion. Recent genomic work suggests that BGC(GC) affects the base composition of yeast, invertebrate and mammalian genomes. Hypotheses for the mechanisms and evolutionary origin of such a strange phenomenon have been proposed. Most BGC(GC) events probably occur during meiosis, which has implications for our understanding of the evolution of sex and recombination.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Genetic manipulation of an exogenous non-immunoglobulin protein by gene conversion machinery in a chicken B cell line.

During culture, a chicken B cell line DT40 spontaneously mutates immunoglobulin (Ig) genes by gene conversion, which involves activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID)-dependent homologous recombination of the variable (V) region gene with upstream pseudo-V genes. To explore whether this mutation mechanism can target exogenous non-Ig genes, we generated DT40 lines that bears a gene conversion substrate comprising the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene as a donor and the blue fluorescent protein (BFP) gene as an acceptor. A few percent of the initially BFP-expressing cells converted their fluorescence from blue to green after culture for 2-3 weeks when the substrate construct was integrated in the Ig light chain locus, but not in the ovalbumin locus. This was the result of AID-dependent and the GFP gene-templated gene conversion of the BFP gene, thereby leading to the introduction of various sizes of GFP-derived gene segment into the BFP gene. Thus, G/B construct may be used to visualize gene conversion events. After switching off AID expression in DT40 cells, the mutant clones were isolated stably and maintained with their mutations being fixed. Thus, the gene conversion machinery in DT40 cells will be a useful means to engineer non-Ig proteins by a type of DNA shuffling.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Intense and highly localized gene conversion activity in human meiotic crossover hot spots.

Meiotic gene conversion has an important role in allele diversification and in the homogenization of gene and other repeat DNA sequence families, sometimes with pathological consequences. But little is known about the dynamics of gene conversion in humans and its relationship to meiotic crossover. We therefore developed screening and selection methods to characterize sperm conversions in two meiotic crossover hot spots in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and one in the sex chromosomal pseudoautosomal pairing region PAR1 (ref. 9). All three hot spots are active in gene conversion and crossover. Conversion tracts are short and define a steep bidirectional gradient centered at the peak of crossover activity, consistent with crossovers and conversions being produced by the same recombination-initiating events. These initiations seem to be spread over a narrow zone, rather than occurring at a single site, and seem preferentially to yield conversions rather than crossovers. Crossover breakpoints are more broadly diffused than conversion breakpoints, suggesting either differences between conversion and crossover processing after initiation or the existence of a quality control checkpoint at which short interactions between homologous chromosomes are preferentially aborted as conversions.

Crossing Over, Genetic↗
PubMed1993

Unusual mutation clusters provide insight into class I gene conversion mechanisms.

Genetic diversity among the K and D alleles of the mouse major histocompatibility complex is generated by gene conversion among members of the class I multigene family. The majority of known class I mutants contain clusters of nucleotide changes that can be traced to linked family members. However, the details of the gene conversion mechanism are not known. The bm3 and bm23 mutations represent exceptions to the usual pattern and provide insight into intermediates generated during the gene conversion process. Both of these variants contain clusters of five nucleotide substitutions, but they differ from the classic conversion mutants in the important respect that no donor gene for either mutation could be identified in the parental genome. Nevertheless, both mutation clusters are composed of individual mutations that do exist within the parent. Therefore, they are not random and appear to be templated. Significantly, the bm3 and bm23 mutation clusters are divided into overlapping regions that match class I genes which have functioned as donor genes in other characterized gene conversion events. The unusual structure of the mutation clusters indicates an underlying gene conversion mechanism that can generate mutation clusters as a result of the interaction of three genes in a single genetic event. The unusual mutation clusters are consistent with a hypothetical gene conversion model involving extrachromosomal intermediates.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1984

The sequence of the gorilla fetal globin genes: evidence for multiple gene conversions in human evolution.

Two fetal globin genes (G gamma and A gamma) from one chromosome of a lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) have been sequenced and compared to three human loci (a G gamma-gene and two A gamma-alleles). A comparison of regions of local homology among these five sequences indicates that long after the duplication that produced the two nonallelic gamma-globin loci of catarrhine primates, about 35 million years (Myr) ago, at least one gene conversion event occurred between these loci. This conversion occurred not long before the ancestral divergence (about 6 Myr ago) of Homo and Gorilla. After this ancestral divergence, a minimum of three more gene conversion events occurred in the human lineage. Each human A gamma-allele shares specific sequence features with the gorilla A gamma-gene; one such distinctive allelic feature involves the simple repeated sequence in IVS 2. This suggests that early in the human lineage the A gamma-genes may have undergone a crossing-over event mediated by this simple repeated sequence. The DNA sequences from coding regions of both G gamma- and A gamma-loci, a comparison of 292 codons in the corresponding gorilla and human genes, show an unusually low evolutionary rate, with only two nonsilent differences and, surprisingly, not even one silent substitution. The two nonsynonymous substitutions observed predict a glycine at codon 73 and an arginine at codon 104 in the gorilla A gamma-sequence rather than aspartic acid and lysine, respectively, in human A gamma. Because only arginine has been found at position 104 in gamma-chains of Old World monkeys, it may represent the ancestral residue lost in gorilla and human G gamma-chains and in the human A gamma-chain. Possibly the arginine codon (AGG) was replaced by the lysine codon (AAG) in the G gamma-gene of a common ancestor of Homo and Gorilla and then was transferred to the A gamma-gene by subsequent conversions in the human lineage. DNA sequence conversions, similar to that attributed to the fetal gamma-globin genes, appear to be relatively frequent phenomena and, if widespread throughout the genome, may have profound evolutionary consequences.

Alleles↗
PubMed2002

A method for estimating the mutation, gene conversion and recombination parameters in small multigene families.

A simple two-locus gene conversion model is considered to investigate the amounts of DNA variation and linkage disequilibrium in small multigene families. The exact solutions for the expectations and variances of the amounts of variation within and between two loci are obtained. It is shown that gene conversion increases the amount of variation within each locus and decreases the amount of variation between two loci. The expectation and variance of the amount of linkage disequilibrium are also obtained. Gene conversion generates positive linkage disequilibrium and the degree of linkage disequilibrium decreases as the recombination rate is increased. Using the theoretical results, a method for estimating the mutation, gene conversion, and recombination parameters is developed and applied to the data of the Amy multigene family in Drosophila melanogaster. The gene conversion rate is estimated to be approximately 60-165 times higher than the mutation rate for synonymous sites.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Gene conversion drives GC content evolution in mammalian histones.

To examine the evolutionary influence of gene conversion on DNA base composition, I analysed an exhaustive dataset of histone paralogous genes from human and mouse. I show that those gene copies that belong to subfamilies of very similar sequences (presumably undergoing gene conversion) have a higher GC content than unique gene copies (presumably not undergoing gene conversion). Thus, it seems that gene conversion is a biased process that tends to increase the DNA GC content, a conclusion that has implications for the evolution of isochores in vertebrates.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

The coalescent with gene conversion.

In this article we develop a coalescent model with intralocus gene conversion. The distribution of the tract length is geometric in concordance with results published in the literature. We derive a simulation scheme and deduce a number of analytical results for this coalescent with gene conversion. We compare patterns of variability in samples simulated according to the coalescent with recombination with similar patterns simulated according to the coalescent with gene conversion alone. Further, an expression for the expected number of topology shifts in a sample of present-day sequences caused by gene conversion events is derived.

Gene Conversion↗