This work offers a fascinating insight into a crucial genetic process. Recombination is, quite simply, one of the most important topics in contemporary biology. This book is a totally comprehensive treatment of the subject, summarizing all existing views on the topic and at the same time putting them into context. It provides in-depth and up-to-date analysis of the chapter topics, and has been written by international experts in the field.

Genetic recombination, in the broadest sense, can be defined as any process in which DNA sequences interact and undergo a transfer of information, producing new “recombinant” sequences that contain information from each of the original molecules. All organisms have the ability to carry out recombination, and this striking universality speaks to the essential role recombination plays in a variety of biological processes fundamentally important to the maintenance of life. Such processes include DNA repair, regulation of gene expression, disease etiology, meiotic chromosome segregation, and evolution. One important aspect of recombination is that it typically occurs only between sequences that display a high degree of sequence identity. The stringent requirement for homology helps to ensure that, under normal circumstances, a cell is protected from deleterious rearrangements since a swap of genetic information between two nearly identical sequences is not expected to dramatically alter a genome. Recombination between dissimilar sequences, which does happen on occasion, may have such harmful consequences as chromosomal translocations, deletions, or inversions. For many organisms, it is also important that recombination rates are not too high lest the genome become destabilized. Curiously, certain organisms, such as the trypanosome parasite, actually use a high rate of recombination at a particular locus in order to switch antigen expression continually and evade the host immune system effectively.

Molecular Genetics, Part II covers the significant developments in various areas of molecular genetics. This book is composed of 10 chapters that also consider the gene expression and regulation of some enzymes. The opening chapters deal with the mechanisms of nucleic acid replication and repair, as well as the structural aspects of the genetic apparatus of viruses and cells. The next chapters explore the patterns and mechanisms of genetic recombination, the in vitro and in vivo experiments to delineate the genetic code, and the initiation of peptide chains in Escherichia coli. These topics are followed by discussions of the mechanism of DNA-dependent RNA synthesis, the regulation of enzyme synthesis in microorganisms, and the regulation of viral replication. The final chapters consider the theoretical and practical aspects of the metabolic regulation in metazoan system and the procedures for the study of DNA-DNA and DNA-RNA interactions. This book will be of great value to molecular geneticists, biochemists, and researchers.

Mechanistic Studies of DNA Replication and Genetic Recombination emerged from a symposium on DNA replication and genetic recombination held from March 16-21, 1980 in Keystone, Colorado. The event featured 30 plenary session talks, 13 workshop discussion groups, and the 210 poster sessions. The studies described in this book are paving the way for the elucidation of other basic genetic mechanisms, including ""new"" areas in molecular genetics such as those of eukaryotic gene expression and the transposition of mobile genetic elements. This book is divided into 10 parts: summaries of workshop discussion groups (Part I); studies on eukaryotic model systems for DNA replication (Part II); studies on bacterial replication origins (Part III); studies on replication origins of bacterial phages and plasmids (Part IV); studies on eukaryotic replication origins (Part V); studies on prokaryotic replication enzymology (Part VI); studies on eukaryotic replication enzymology (Part VII); studies on the fidelity of DNA replication (Part VIII); studies on DNA topoisomerases (Part IX); and studies of genetic recombination mechanisms (Part X).

Mechanisms of Eukaryotic DNA Recombination is a collection of papers that discusses advances in eukaryotic genetic recombination. Papers address issues in eukaryotic genetic recombination, particularly DNA integration in mammalian genomes, genetic recombination in Drosophila or Caenorhabditis; the manipulation of the mouse genome; genome organization; and genetic recombination in protozoa. One paper discusses chromatid interactions during intrachromosomal recombination in mammalian cells, namely, intrachromatid and sister chromatid. Another paper analyzes the implication for chromosomal recombination and gene targeting; results on extrachromosomal recombination show that circles are inefficient substrates for recombination even if only one of two substrates in an intermolecular reaction is circular. One author discusses the genetics and molecular biology of recombination, citing the work of Watson and Crick, stating that crossing-over occurs between genes (not within them). He also explains that the formation and resolution of recombination intermediaries depend on enzyme or other proteins. This book will prove invaluable to cellular biologists, microbiologists, and researchers engaged in genetics and general biology.

Introduction; Synthesis of deoxyribonucleotides; Phosphorylation of deoxyribonucleotides; Synthesis of DNA by escherichia coli polymerase; Synthesis of DNA by calf thymus polymerase; Synthesis of DNA in bacteriophage-infected escherichia coli; A morphological picture of the chromosome; Replication of DNA; Exchanges between DNA subunits and genetic recombination; Sequences of replication of DNA in chromosomes.