Partition of repeat-induced point mutations reveals structural aspects of homologous DNA-DNA pairing

In some fungi, a premeiotic process known as Repeat-Induced Point mutation (RIP) can accurately identify and mutate nearly all gene-sized DNA repeats present in the haploid germline nuclei. Studies in Neurospora crassa have suggested that RIP detects sequence homology directly between intact DNA double helices, without strand separation and without participation of RecA-like proteins. Those studies used the aggregated number of RIP mutations as a simple quantitative measure of RIP activity. Additional structural information about homologous DNA-DNA pairing during RIP can be extracted by analyzing spatial distributions of RIP mutations converted into profiles of a new parameter called partitioned RIP propensity (PRP).

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