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Updated: May 2, 2026

Detection of Homologous Recombination Intermediates via Proximity Ligation and Quantitative PCR in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Published on: September 11, 2022
The sister chromatid exchange (SCE) assay
Dawn M Stults1, Michael W Killen, Andrew J Pierce
1Markey Cancer Center, University of Kentucky, 222 Combs Research Building, 800 Rose Street, Lexington, KY, 40536-0096, USA.
Abstract:
A fully optimized staining method for detecting sister chromatid exchanges in cultured cells is presented. The method gives reproducibly robust quantitative results. Sister chromatid exchange is a classic toxicology assay for genotoxicity and for detecting alterations to the biochemistry underlying cellular homologous recombination. Growth of cells in the presence of 5'-bromo-deoxyuridine for two rounds of DNA replication followed by collecting metaphase spreads on glass slides, treatment with the UV-sensitive dye Hoechst 33258, long-wave UV light exposure, and Giemsa staining gives a permanent record of the exchanges.
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