A plant solution to the CDK conundrum in the DNA damage response

Abstract

? 2016 The AuthorsTo cope with DNA damage, proliferating cells have evolved sophisticated mechanisms including cell cycle arrest and activation of DNA repair. Paradoxically, various DNA damage response pathways are promoted by cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) activity, while cell cycle remains arrested. New work in The EMBO Journal shows that plant cells have evolved intricate ways to resolve this dilemma, by utilizing distinct and specialized CDKs for cell cycle progression and homologous recombination.