Figure 6

Model for a solo single-stranded DNA intermediate in Red recombination. Model for recombination at the replication fork. Annealing of an ssDNA molecule to complementary regions on the lagging strand at the replication fork is depicted. The ssDNA molecule comprises two flanking homology arms (~50 nt; yellow), interspaced by a heterologous sequence (light green). The Redβ annealing intermediate is shown as a curved line of red dots. The leading strand is shown in blue, lagging strand in black, DnaB helicase in light orange, the two Pol III holoenzymes are green, which are tethered to the γ/τ clamp loader (light blue), and the β sliding clamps are dark blue rings. (A) The Redβ-ssDNA protein complex anneals the 3' end first, which then primes DNA synthesis for an Okazaki fragment. (B) After replication fork progression, the second homology region becomes exposed and annealing of the 5' homology arm creates the ssDNA heteroduplex intermediate.