DNA Repair and Recombination Proteins (Dmc1 and Rad51) from Rice (Oryza Sativa)

Homologous recombination is a process by which two DNA molecules interact physically and exchange the genetic information for maintaining the genome integrity and genetic diversity. Different proteins are involved in this process to carryout sequential biophysical and biochemical steps of this process. A special group of proteins called “Recombinases” are the central and crucial for this process as they mediate important steps like homology search, synapsis and strand exchange. In prokaryotes, RecA and in eukaryotes, RecA homologues, Rad51 and Dmc1 are important for this process. In this article, we report a brief over view of the work on rice DNA recombinases OsDmc1 (Oryza sativa Disrupted Meiotic cDNA1) and OsRad51 (Oryza sativa Radiation sensitive mutant 51). Both the proteins showed the hallmark properties of bonafied “Recombinase”.