Abstract
Escherichia coli RecA has been considered traditionally a cellular protein with multiple vital functions working to ensure the maintenance of integrity of genome in each individual bacterial cell as well as promoting swarming migration in collectivity. On the contrary, recently it has been described that RecA promotes cellular apoptotic-like death (ALD), a pathway of programmed cellular death (PCD). In fact, RecA has been dubbed as the major apoptotic executor in E. coli. From these studies, RecA emerges as a prototypical Gin/Gan protein that despite of their intrinsic vital and lethal anfi-funcionality becomes in a WISE factor: a Worker to Integrate Survival and Evolution in E. coli evolving populations living in community. Here, I provide a review of recent experimental and conceptual advances trying to understand these RecA’s antagonistic roles in appearance contradictory under a unified biological vision.
Highlights
Evolution is the principal issue in Biology [1]
RecA emerges as a prototypical Gin/Gan protein that despite of their intrinsic vital and lethal anfi-funcionality becomes in a WISE factor: a Worker to Integrate Survival and Evolution in E. coli evolving populations living in community
Genetic recombination is the outcome of homologous recombination (HR) process, a housekeeping mechanism involved in the maintenance of genome integrity and generation of genetic variability through the rearrangement of genes within and between chromosomes [2]
Summary
Evolution is the principal issue in Biology [1]. Darwinian evolution depends of two interrelate fundamental processes: emergence of genetic diversity in a population and Natural Selection of the fittest (adapted) organisms in each environmental setting [1]. HR has a crucial role to all forms of life and involves the exchange (i.e., breakage and reunion) of DNA sequences between two DNA homologous molecules for the repair of a variety of DNA damage of exogenous and endogenous origin [2] Such molecular exchange provides an evolutionary force that contributes to promote genetic diversity and to conserve genetic integrity [2]. This DNA strand exchange reaction is used during the recombinational DNA repair [5] This RecA nucleofilament is required to induction of the SOS response by promotion of the autocatalytic cleavage of the LexA repressor, activation of UmuD’ by mediating autocatalytic cleavage of UmuD, and direct participation in SOS mutagenesis by activation of DNA polymerase V (see section) [6]. This exchange process is central to RecA function in recombinational DNA repair (e.g., double strand break-DSB-repair) [6] and rescue of stalled replication fork [15]
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