Deletion of flanking ARS elements does not affect meiotic recombination at the HIS4 locus in yeast

The HIS4-BIK1 interval on chromosome III of Saccharomyces cerevisiae contains a hotspot for meiotic recombination. Previous reports demonstrated that the initiating lesion is a double-stranded break which is subsequently processed in an asymmetric manner. Data presented here show that the efficiency of initiation of meiotic recombination is unaffected by the deletion of flanking ARS elements, and that the distribution of recombinants is not altered in strains heterozygous for these deletions. These results suggest that the initiation of recombination is not affected by the time of replication of the hotspot at HIS4. The data also indicate that altering the direction of replication-fork movement through the HIS4 region does not affect meiotic recombination. Received: 18 June / 24 September 1996