BRCA2 in meiosis: turning over a new leaf

Although originally thought to be confined to mammals, putative orthologues of the breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA2 have now been found in a wide range of evolutionarily diverse taxa. These include the smut fungus Ustilago maydis, intracellular parasites, flies and vertebrates. A recent article demonstrates that two BRCA2-like genes in the plant Arabidopsis thaliana have a key role in meiosis. Investigating BRCA2 in distantly related organisms is likely to help to elucidate how the dysfunction of this gene leads to tumourigenesis.