Biochemical characterisation of Mer3 helicase interactions and the protection of meiotic recombination intermediates

Crossing over between homologs is critical for the stable segregation of chromosomes during the first meiotic division. Saccharomyces cerevisiae Mer3 (HFM1 in mammals) is a SF2 helicase and member of the ZMM group of proteins, that facilitates the formation of the majority of crossovers during meiosis. Here, we describe the structural organisation of Mer3 and using AlphaFold modelling and XL-MS we further characterise the previously described interaction with Mlh1–Mlh2. We find that Mer3 also forms a previously undescribed complex with the recombination regulating factors Top3 and Rmi1 and that this interaction is competitive with Sgs1(BLM) helicase. Using in vitro reconstituted D-loop assays we show that Mer3 inhibits the anti-recombination activity of Sgs1 helicase, but only in the presence of Dmc1. Thus we provide a mechanism whereby Mer3 interacts with a network of proteins to protect Dmc1 derived D-loops from dissolution.