Rad52 forms ring structures and co‐operates with RPA in single‐strand DNA annealing

Abstract

Rad52 forms a ring-like structure and binds to ssDNA. Its structure and DNA binding properties are different from those of Rad51. The interaction of Rad52 with RPA plays an important role in the enhancement of annealing of complementary ssDNAs. We therefore propose that Rad52 mediates the RAD51-independent recombination through an ssDNA annealing, assisted by RPA.