Rad52 sorts and stacks Rad51 at the DNA junction to promote homologous recombination

Abstract Homologous recombination (HR) repairs double-stranded DNA breaks (DSBs). The DSBs are resected to yield single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) that are coated by Replication Protein A (RPA). Rad51 is a recombinase and catalyzes strand invasion and the search for homology. However, it binds to ssDNA with lower affinity than RPA. Thus, mediator proteins such as Rad52/BRCA2 are required to promote Rad51 binding to RPA-coated ssDNA, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Saccharomyces cerevisiae Rad52 interacts with Rad51 through two distinct binding modes. We here uncover that the Rad51-binding site in the disordered C-terminus of Rad52 (mode-1) sorts polydisperse Rad51 into discrete monomers. The second Rad51 binding site resides in the ordered N-terminal ring of Rad52 (mode-2), but this interaction occurs at only one position on the ring. In single molecule confocal fluorescence microscopy combined with optical tweezer analysis, we directly visualize filament formation using fluorescent-Rad51. Rad52 catalyzes Rad51 loading onto RPA-coated ssDNA, with a distinct preference for junctions, but no filament growth is observed. Deletion of the C-terminus of Rad52 results in loss of Rad51 sorting and abrogates Rad51 binding to RPA-coated DNA. While BRCA2 and Rad52 are structurally unrelated, many of these functional features are conserved. We describe a concerted Sort & Stack mechanism for mediator proteins in promoting HR.