Mechanism for polarized recombination in Streptomyces.

Recombination between pairs of mutations in a cluster of seven cistrons controlling histidine biosynthesis is highly polarized. The polarity is opposite at the opposite ends of the region. In experiments involving three his mutations it has been shown that recombination is the result of the transfer, from one parent to the other, of a segment going from the distal selected his+ allele to the end of the region. The rate of transfer is inversely proportional to the distance of the transferred his+ allele from the end of the region, at its side. A model of the process of recombination is discussed.