Article
- The EMBO Journal (2006) 25, 4326 - 4337
- doi:10.1038/sj.emboj.7601313
Published online: 7 September 2006
Subject Categories:
A homologue of the breast cancer-associated gene BARD1 is involved in DNA repair in plants
Wim Reidt, Rebecca Wurz, Kristina Wanieck, Hoang Ha Chu and Holger Puchta
- Botanisches Institut II, Universität Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany
Correspondence to:
Holger Puchta, Botanisches Institut II, Universität Karlsruhe, Kaiserstrasse 12, 76128 Karlsruhe, Germany. Tel.: +49 721 608 3833; Fax: +49 721 608 4874; E-mail: holger.puchta@bio.uni-karlsruhe.de
Received 23 February 2006; Accepted 3 August 2006
Abstract
hBRCA1 and hBARD1 are tumor suppressor proteins that are involved as heterodimer via ubiquitinylation in many cellular processes, such as DNA repair. Loss of BRCA1 or BARD1 results in early embryonic lethality and chromosomal instability. The Arabidopsis genome carries a BRCA1 homologue, and we were able to identify a BARD1 homologue. AtBRCA1 and the putative AtBARD1 protein are able to interact with each other as indicated by in vitro and in planta experiments. We have identified T-DNA insertion mutants for both genes, which show no visible phenotype under standard growth conditions and are fully fertile. Thus, in contrast to animals, both genes have no indispensable role during development and meiosis in plants. The two single as well as the double mutant are to a similar extent sensitive to mitomycin C, indicating an epistatic interaction in DNA crosslink repair. We could further demonstrate that in Arabidopsis BARD1 plays a prominent role in the regulation of homologous DNA repair in somatic cells.
Keywords:
- Arabidopsis thaliana,
- BARD1,
- breast cancer genes,
- DNA repair,
- homologous recombination
