Bacterial Genome Instability

Genome Instability

Maintaining genomic stability in the face of replication and recombination requires a huge variety of different damage response proteins. A cell’s ability to decide when and where to deploy this DNA repair kit is critical to prevent tumor development. This issue’s Select highlights recent studies that help to explain how these difficult decisions are made and reveals that some surprising cellul...

Genome Instability

To whet your appetite for the special focus in next issue’s Leading Edge on Genomic Instability, we take a look at what’s new in the field of DNA repair. Ranging from network analyses of the proteins involved in mutagenic DNA repair to examination of single molecules taking part in homologous recombination, this Select probes the inner workings of a process that can wreak havoc during carcinoge...

Genome instability: McClintock revisited

Recent studies in yeast have shed light on the molecular mechanisms by which telomere dysfunction leads to chromosome fusions. Furthermore, examination of the consequences of telomerase loss in mice suggests that only a few critically short telomeres may be sufficient to promote genomic instability.

Genome Instability and γH2AX

γH2AX has emerged in the last 20 years as a central player in the DDR (DNA damage response), with specificity for DSBs (double-strand breaks). Upon the generation of DSBs, γ-phosphorylation extends along megabase-long domains in chromatin, both sides of the damage. The significance of this mechanism is of great importance; it depicts a biological amplification mechanism where one DSB induces th...

Genome Instability and Aging