Developmental Biology Program, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, New York, NY, USA.
Cell cycle (Georgetown, Tex.) 2011 Nov 1DNA ligases are crucial for most DNA transactions, including DNA replication, repair, and recombination. Recently, DNA ligase III (Lig3) has been demonstrated to be crucial for cell survival due to its catalytic function in mitochondria. This review summarizes these recent results and reports on a hitherto unappreciated widespread phylogenetic presence of Lig3 in eukaryotes, including in some organisms before the divergence of metazoa. Analysis of these putative Lig3 homologs suggests that many of them are likely to be found in mitochondria and to be critical for mitochondrial function.
Deniz Simsek, Maria Jasin. DNA ligase III: a spotty presence in eukaryotes, but an essential function where tested. Cell cycle (Georgetown, Tex.). 2011 Nov 1;10(21):3636-44
PMID: 22041657
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