DNA recombinase mediator complex: broaden for Prokaryotes

We should look again what this term is trying to describe "what does recombinase mediator mean?, it sounds like a "process grouping term". Is it any complex with recombinase activity? or only Rad51 family recombinases?

Moist of the children are Rad51 family (which I think is present in archaea but absent from prokaryotes?) but child
Swi5-Sfr1 complex is described as a recombinase mediator (in def), but is not a recombinase (its involved in recombinase assembly) so we have definately go 2 types of complexes in under this term those which contain recombinases, and thse involved in their assembly

Hi Becky

maybe this should be RecA family recombinase complex and remove Swi5-Sfr1 complex
which would probably sort it
(Swi5-Sfr1 complex is a RecA recombinase activiting complex, I think?)

Hi Val,

I got confused by which proteins were functioning as recombinases, and which were acting as facilitators of recombinase activity (mediators) too.

This is a good review on the complexes, and mentions most of the dimeric/tetrameric complexes we have in GO already (see below):
PMID: 12912992
Rad51 recombinase and recombination mediators.

From the above review, the recombination mediators are defined as: accessory proteins which bind a recombinase (E.g. Rad51) and bind ssDNA, and promote nucleation of the recombinase onto ssDNA.

Many paralogs of Rad51 act as recombinase mediators:
E.g. Rad55-Rad57: A heterodimer that binds ssDNA and possesses a recombination mediator activity.

Other paralogs of Rad51 include:
XRCC2
XRCC3
Rad51B
Rad51C
Rad51D
These paralogs dimerize amongst themselves (and occassionally form tetramers) to form complexes with ssDNA-binding activity. These paralog pairs act as mediators of Rad51 presynaptic filament assembly.

So the complexes in GO under GO:0033061 are describing mediators (not the recombinase activity itself). I'll make this clearer in the GO:0033061 definition.

Since RecA recombinases exist in bacteria, it makes sense that bacteria contain recombination mediator complexes too. This InterPro entry would agree:
http://www.ebi.ac.uk/interpro/ISearch?query=IPR003488

I'll remove the nuclear parentage from the grouping term GO:0033061, but add it in to the Eukaryotic complexes we already have underneath.

Becky

Adjusted definition of 'DNA recombinase mediator complex ; GO:0033061' to make it clearer that the mediators don't have recombinase activity but instead aid recombinases. Removed 'nuclear part' parent, and instead added 'nuclear part' as a parent to the Eukaryotic complexes listed underneath.