The INO80 complex is required for damage-induced recombination.

Abstract The budding yeast INO80 complex has a role in remodeling chromatin structure, and the SWR1 complex replaces a H2A/H2B dimer with a variant dimer, H2A.Z (Htz1)/H2B. It has been reported that these chromatin remodeling complexes contain Arp4 (actin-related protein) and actin in common and are recruited to HO endonuclease-induced DNA double-strand break (DSB) site. Reportedly, Ino80 can evict nucleosomes surrounding a HO-induced DSB; however, it has no apparent role to play in the repair of HO-induced DSB. Here we show that an essential factor for INO80 chromatin remodeling activity, Arp8, is involved in damage-induced sister chromatid recombination and interchromosomal recombination between heteroalleles. In contrast, arp6 mutants are proficient for recombination, indicating that the SWR1 complex does not promote recombination. Our data suggest that the remodeling of chromatin by the INO80 complex facilitates efficient homologus recombination upon DNA damages.