Mapping of Rec12 oligonucleotides in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

Meiotic recombination facilitates accurate pairing and faithful segregation of homologous chromosomes by forming physical connections (crossovers) between homologs. Developmentally programmed DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) generated by Spo11 protein (Rec12 in fission yeast) initiate meiotic recombination. Until recently, attempts to address the basis of the highly non-random distribution of DSBs on a genome-wide scale have been limited to 0.1–1 kb resolution of DSB position. We have assessed individual DSB events across the Schizosaccharomyces pombe genome at near-nucleotide resolution by deep-sequencing the short oligonucleotides connected to Rec12 following DNA cleavage. The single oligonucleotide size-class generated by Rec12 allowed us to effectively analyze all break events. Our high-resolution DSB map shows that the influence of underlying nucleotide sequence and chromosomal architecture differs in multiple ways from that in budding yeast. Rec12 action is not strongly restricted to nucleosome-depleted regions but is nevertheless spatially biased with respect to chromatin structure. Furthermore, we find strong evidence across the genome for differential DSB repair previously predicted to account for crossover invariance (constant cM/kb in spite of DSB hotspots). Our genome-wide analyses demonstrate evolutionarily fluid factors contributing to crossover initiation and its regulation. Three samples total: one sample sequenced by 454 and two technical replicates (independent adaptor ligations from material purified from one culture) sequenced by SOLiD