Abstract
THE nuclear DNA of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been the subject of a detailed electron microscopic examination1,2. These studies have revealed long, continuous molecules of lengths up to 355 µm, which correspond to the molecular weights of nuclear DNA estimated from sedimentation analysis in sucrose gradients. Several replication structures (bubbles) were observed along single molecules2,3, as found in other eukaryotes4,5. The most useful observations were made on selected replicating DNA3 and on DNA of mutants that were arrested just after the initiation of DNA synthesis6. We have started to study the structure of DNA molecules during meiosis because of its direct relevance to the process of recombination. Models to explain recombination (for review see ref. 7) are based mostly on genetic data from meiotic analysis, among which yeast tetrads occupy an important position. The various models have molecular implications which could best be tested by the direct examination and quantification of the interactions among DNA molecules, and between DNA and proteins, during meiosis.
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SIMCHEN, G., FRIEDMANN, A. Structure of DNA molecules in yeast meiosis. Nature 257, 64–66 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1038/257064a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/257064a0
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