UVSC of Aspergillus nidulans is a Functional Homolog of RAD51 in Yeast

A defect in uvsC of Aspergillus nidulans caused high methyl methansulfonate (MMS)-sensitivity, hyporecombination, and a lack of UV induced mutation. The uvsC gene of Aspergillus nidulans shares a sequence similarity with the RAD51 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In this study, in vitro and in vivo tests were conducted in order to determine whether or not the UVSC protein had functional similarities to RAD51, the recombination enzyme in yeast. The purified recombinant UVSC protein, following expression in Escherichia coli, showed binding activity to single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), when both ATP and magnesium are present. In addition, ATPase activity was also demonstrated and its activity was stimulated in the presence of ssDNA. The UVSC protein that was expressed under the ADH promoter in S. cerevisiae suppressed in part the sensitivity to MMS of the rad51 null mutant. Similarly, when the uvsC cDNA was expressed from the nmt promoter, the MMS sensitivity of the rhp51 null mutant of Schizosaccharomyces pombe was partially complemented. These results indicate that the A. nidulans UVSC protein is a functional homologue of the RAD51 protein.