Date of Graduation

Summer 2012

Degree

Master of Science in Cell and Molecular Biology

Department

Biomedical Sciences

Committee Chair

Joshua Smith

Abstract

DMC1 (disruption of meiotic control) is a gene originally identified in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae encoding a recombinase involved in meiosis-specific repair of double strand breaks (DSBs) via homologous recombination. It is a homolog of both RECA, the bacterial recombinase, and RAD51. RAD51 has been found to be involved in meiotic and non-meiotic DSB repair. DMC1 has not been fully characterized in the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila. Microarray and RT-PCR data from previous studies in T. thermophila have demonstrated that expression of Dmc1 increases during meiosis and that the protein localizes to the micronucleus. This study aims to further characterize DMC1 in T. thermophila. Bioinformatics was used to compare Dmc1 and Rad51 homologues from various species. RT-PCR studies showed an increase in DMC1 mRNA expression after treatment with MMS, UV, and H2O2, suggesting a possible role for Dmc1in DNA repair outside of meiosis.

Keywords

DMC1, RAD51, homologous recombination, Tetrahymena thermophila, DNA damage

Subject Categories

Medical Molecular Biology

Copyright

© Allie Kay Maltzman

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