Eco1 is important for DNA damage repair in S. cerevisiae

The cohesin network has an essential role in chromosome segregation, but also plays a role in DNA damage repair. Eco1 is an acetyltransferase that targets subunits of the cohesin complex and is involved in both the chromosome segregation and DNA damage repair roles of the network. Using budding yeast as a model system, we find that mutations in Eco1, including a genocopy of a human Roberts syndrome allele, do not cause gross defects in chromosome cohesion. We examined how mitotic and meiotic DNA damage repair is affected by mutations in Eco1. Strains containing mutations in Eco1 are sensitive to DNA damaging agents that cause double-strand breaks, such as X-rays and bleomycin. While meiotic crossing over is relatively unaffected in strains containing the Roberts mutation, reciprocal mitotic crossovers occur with extremely low frequency in this mutant background. Our results suggest that Eco1 promotes the reciprocal exchange of chromosome arms and maintenance of heterozygosity during mitosis.