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A tetrad is the association of a pair of homologous chromosomes (4 sister chromatids) physically held together by at least one DNA crossover. This physical attachment allows for alignment and segregation of the homologous chromosomes in the first meiotic division. In most organisms, each replicated chromosome (composed of two identical sisters ...
Gene conversion is the process by which one DNA sequence replaces a homologous sequence such that the sequences become identical after the conversion. [1] Gene conversion can be either allelic, meaning that one allele of the same gene replaces another allele, or ectopic, meaning that one paralogous DNA sequence converts another.
Related single stranded binding proteins that are important for homologous recombination, and many other processes, are also found in all domains of life. [ 112 ] Rad54, Mre11 , Rad50 , and a number of other proteins are also found in both archaea and eukaryotes.
Homology among DNA, RNA, or proteins is typically inferred from their nucleotide or amino acid sequence similarity. Significant similarity is strong evidence that two sequences are related by evolutionary changes from a common ancestral sequence. Alignments of multiple sequences are used to indicate which regions of each sequence are homologous.
Strand exchange then proceeds via a crossed strand intermediate analogous to the Holliday junction in which only one pair of strands has been exchanged. [15] [16] The mechanism and control of serine recombinases is much less well understood. This group of enzymes was only discovered in the mid-1990s and is still relatively small.
[citation needed] While in this formation, homologous sites on two chromatids can closely pair with one another, and may exchange genetic information. [ 6 ] Because there is a small probability of recombination at any location along a chromosome, the frequency of recombination between two locations depends on the distance separating them.
The two pathways for homologous recombination in eukaryotes, showing the formation and resolution of Holliday junctions. The Holliday junction is a key intermediate in homologous recombination, a biological process that increases genetic diversity by shifting genes between two chromosomes, as well as site-specific recombination events involving integrases.
This single-stranded DNA structure can act as an origin of replication that recruits telomerase. Telomerase is a specialized DNA polymerase that consists of multiple protein subunits and an RNA component. The RNA component of telomerase anneals to the single stranded 3' end of the template DNA and contains 1.5 copies of the telomeric sequence. [93]