Unequal Sister Chromatid and Homolog Recombination at a Tandem Duplication of the a1 Locus in Maize

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2006-08-01
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Yandeau-Nelson, Marna
Xia, Yiji
Li, Jin
Neuffer, M. Gerald
Schnable, Patrick
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Yandeau-Nelson, Marna
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Agronomy

The Department of Agronomy seeks to teach the study of the farm-field, its crops, and its science and management. It originally consisted of three sub-departments to do this: Soils, Farm-Crops, and Agricultural Engineering (which became its own department in 1907). Today, the department teaches crop sciences and breeding, soil sciences, meteorology, agroecology, and biotechnology.

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The Department of Agronomy was formed in 1902. From 1917 to 1935 it was known as the Department of Farm Crops and Soils.

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1902–present

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  • Department of Farm Crops and Soils (1917–1935)

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Genetics, Development and Cell Biology

The Department of Genetics, Development, and Cell Biology seeks to teach subcellular and cellular processes, genome dynamics, cell structure and function, and molecular mechanisms of development, in so doing offering a Major in Biology and a Major in Genetics.

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The Department of Genetics, Development, and Cell Biology was founded in 2005.

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AgronomyGenetics, Development and Cell BiologyGenetics and GenomicsCenter for Plant Genomics
Abstract

Tandemly arrayed duplicate genes are prevalent. The maize A1-b haplotype is a tandem duplication that consists of the components, a and b. The rate of meiotic unequal recombination at A1-b is ninefold higher when a homolog is present than when it is absent (i.e., hemizygote). When a sequence heterologous homolog is available, 94% of recombinants (264/281) are generated via recombination with the homolog rather than with the sister chromatid. In addition, 83% (220/264) of homolog recombination events involved a rather than b. These results indicate that: (1) the homolog is the preferred template for unequal recombination and (2) pairing of the duplicated segments with the homolog does not occur randomly but instead favors a particular configuration. The choice of recombination template (i.e., homolog vs. sister chromatid) affects the distribution of recombination breakpoints within a1. Rates of unequal recombination at A1-b are similar to the rate of recombination between nonduplicated a1 alleles. Unequal recombination is therefore common and is likely to be responsible for the generation of genetic variability, even within inbred lines.

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This article is published as Yandeau-Nelson, Marna D., Yiji Xia, Jin Li, M. Gerald Neuffer, and Patrick S. Schnable. "Unequal sister chromatid and homolog recombination at a tandem duplication of the a1 locus in maize." Genetics 173, no. 4 (2006): 2211-2226. doi: 10.1534/genetics.105.052712.

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