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Characterization of Meiotic Recombination Initiation Sites Using Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis

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DNA Recombination

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 745))

Abstract

High levels of homologous recombination are induced during meiosis. This meiotic recombination is initiated by programmed formation of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) by a conserved meiosis-specific protein, Spo11. Meiotic DSBs are not formed at random along chromosomes but are formed in clusters known as recombination hot spots. To understand the regulation of this initiation step of meiotic recombination, determining the timing and location of meiotic DSBs is essential. In this chapter, we describe a method to detect genome-wide meiotic DSBs by using a combination of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and Southern blotting.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Prof. Alan Lehmann for critical reading of the manuscript. This work was supported by a Marie Curie Cancer Care transitional program grant.

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Correspondence to Hideo Tsubouchi .

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© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Farmer, S., Leung, WK., Tsubouchi, H. (2011). Characterization of Meiotic Recombination Initiation Sites Using Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis. In: Tsubouchi, H. (eds) DNA Recombination. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 745. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-129-1_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-129-1_3

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-61779-128-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-61779-129-1

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