Double Holliday junctions are intermediates of DNA break repair

Abstract

Repair of DNA double-strand-breaks (DSBs) by homologous recombination is crucial for cell proliferation and tumor suppression. However, despite its importance, the molecular intermediates of mitotic DSB-repair remain undefined. The double Holliday Junction (dHJ), presupposed to be the central intermediate for more than 25 years1, has only been identified during meiotic recombination2. Moreover, evidence has accumulated for alternative, dHJ-independent mechanisms3–6, raising the possibility that dHJs are not formed during DSB-repair in mitotically cycling cells. Here we identify intermediates of DSB-repair using a budding yeast assay system designed to mimic physiological DSB repair. This system utilizes diploid cells and provides the possibility for allelic recombination either between sister-chromatids or between homologs, as well as direct comparison with meiotic recombination at the same locus. In mitotically cycling cells, we detect inter-homolog Joint Molecule (JM) intermediates whose size and strand-composition are identical to the canonical dHJ structures observed in meiosis2. However, in contrast to meiosis, JMs between sister chromatids form in preference to those between homologs. Moreover, JMs appear to represent a minor pathway of DSB repair in mitotic cells, being detected at ~10-fold lower levels (per DSB) than during meiotic recombination. Thus, although dHJs are identified as intermediates of DSB-promoted recombination in both mitotic and meiotic cells, their formation is distinctly regulated according to the specific dictates of the two cellular programs.