Abstract
The ribosomal RNA (rDNA) sequence is the most abundant repetitive element in the budding yeast genome and forms a tandem cluster of ~100–200 copies. Cells frequently change their rDNA copy number, making rDNA the most unstable region in the budding yeast genome. The rDNA region experiences programmed replication fork arrest and subsequent formation of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), which are the main drivers of rDNA instability. The rDNA region offers a unique system to understand the mechanisms that respond to replication fork arrest as well as the mechanisms that regulate repeat instability. This chapter describes three methods to assess rDNA instability.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Kobayashi T (2011) Regulation of ribosomal RNA gene copy number and its role in modulating genome integrity and evolutionary adaptability in yeast. Cell Mol Life Sci 68:1395–1403
Pâques F, Haber JE (1999) Multiple pathways of recombination induced by double-strand breaks in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev 63:349–404
Sasaki M, Lange J, Keeney S (2010) Genome destabilization by homologous recombination in the germ line. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 11:182–195
Kobayashi T, Heck DJ, Nomura M et al (1998) Expansion and contraction of ribosomal DNA repeats in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: requirement of replication fork blocking (Fob1) protein and the role of RNA polymerase I. Genes Dev 12:3821–3830
Kobayashi T, Horiuchi T, Tongaonkar P et al (2004) SIR2 regulates recombination between different rDNA repeats, but not recombination within individual rRNA genes in yeast. Cell 117:441–453
Sinclair DA, Guarente L (1997) Extrachromosomal rDNA circles – a cause of aging in yeast. Cell 91:1033–1042
Kaeberlein M, Mcvey M, Guarente L (1999) Saccharomyces cerevisiae by two different mechanisms promote longevity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by two different mechanisms. Genes Dev 13:2570–2580
Park PU, Defossez PA, Guarente L (1999) Effects of mutations in DNA repair genes on formation of ribosomal DNA circles and life span in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol Cell Biol 19:3848–3856
Sasaki M, Kobayashi T (2017) Ctf4 prevents genome rearrangements by suppressing DNA double-strand break formation and its end resection at arrested replication forks. Mol Cell 66:533–545.e5
Ide S, Kobayashi T (2010) Analysis of DNA replication in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by two-dimensional and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Curr Protoc Cell Biol 2010:1–12
Kwan EX, Wang XS, Amemiya HM et al (2016) rDNA copy number variants are frequent passenger mutations in Saccharomyces cerevisiae deletion collections and de novo transformants. G3 (Bethesda) 6:2829–2838
Allers T (2000) A method for preparing genomic DNA that restrains branch migration of Holliday junctions. Nucleic Acids Res 28:6–6
Oh SD et al (2009) Stabilization and electrophoretic analysis of meiotic recombination intermediates in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In: Keeney S (ed) Meiosis, Molecular and genetic methods, vol 1. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 209–234
Burkhalter MD, Sogo JM (2004) rDNA enhancer affects replication initiation and mitotic recombination: Fob1 mediates nucleolytic processing independently of replication. Mol Cell 15:409–421
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT), Japan and from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) (17H01443 to T.K. and 17K15160 and 18H04709 to M.S.), Uehara Memorial Foundation to M.S. and JST CREST Grant Number JPMJCR19S3, Japan to T.K.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Sasaki, M., Kobayashi, T. (2021). Gel Electrophoresis Analysis of rDNA Instability in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In: Aguilera, A., Carreira, A. (eds) Homologous Recombination. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2153. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0644-5_28
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0644-5_28
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-0643-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-0644-5
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols