The unique nucleolar environment, the repetitive nature of ribosomal DNA (rDNA), and especially the possible involvement of RNA polymerase I (RNAPI) in transcription-coupled repair (TCR) have made the study of repair of rDNA both interesting and challenging. TCR, the transcription-dependent, preferential excision repair of the template strand compared with the nontranscribed (coding) strand has been clearly demonstrated in genes transcribed by RNAPII. Whether TCR occurs in rDNA is unresolved. In the present work, we have applied analytical methods to map repair events in rDNA using data generated by the newly developed XR-seq procedure, which measures excision repair genome-wide with single-nucleotide resolution.
