Gene conversion and end-joining-repair double-strand breaks in the Caenorhabditis elegans germline

Excision of a Mos1 transposon in the germline of Caenorhabditis elegans generates a double-strand break In the chromosome.,We demonstrate that breaks are most prominently repaired by gene conversion from the homolog, but also rarely, by nonhomologous end-joining. In some cases, gene, conversion events are resolved by crossing over. Surprisingly, expression of the transposase using all intestine-specific promoter can induce repair, raising the possibility that activation of transposase expression in somatic cells can lead to transposition of Mos1 in the germline..