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Smc5/6: a link between DNA repair and unidirectional replication?

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 9, pages 177–182 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Of the three structural maintenance of chromosome (SMC) complexes, two directly regulate chromosome dynamics. The third, Smc5/6, functions mainly in homologous recombination and in completing DNA replication. The literature suggests that Smc5/6 coordinates DNA repair, in part through post-translational modification of uncharacterized target proteins that can dictate their subcellular localization, and that Smc5/6 also functions to establish DNA-damage-dependent cohesion. A nucleolar-specific Smc5/6 function has been proposed because Smc5/6 yeast mutants display penetrant phenotypes of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) instability. rDNA repeats are replicated unidirectionally. Here, we propose that unidirectional replication, combined with global Smc5/6 functions, can explain the apparent rDNA specificity.

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Figure 1: Unidirectional replication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Johanne M. Murray and Antony M. Carr are at the Genome Damage and Stability Centre, University of Sussex, Brighton, Sussex, BN1 9RQ, UK.,

    Johanne M. Murray & Antony M. Carr

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Murray, J., Carr, A. Smc5/6: a link between DNA repair and unidirectional replication?. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 9, 177–182 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm2309

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