recombinational

Recombinational is an adjective relating to recombination, the process by which genetic material is rearranged or exchanged between molecules or chromosomes to produce new allele combinations. The term is used to describe processes, pathways, and phenomena that involve recombination, rather than a distinct entity.

In biology, the most studied form is homologous recombination, which uses extensive sequence similarity to exchange DNA strands. It plays a central role in repairing double-strand breaks, during meiosis to generate genetic diversity via crossovers, and in DNA replication restart. Enzymes such as RecA in bacteria and Rad51 in eukaryotes mediate strand invasion and exchange; gene conversion and crossovers are common outcomes.

Recombinational processes are important for genome stability, evolution, and breeding. They also underpin some biotechnology techniques, including genetic mapping, cloning strategies that rely on recombination, and genome editing approaches that rely on homologous recombination to introduce precise changes. In medicine, defects in recombinational repair can lead to genomic instability and cancer; certain therapies exploit these defects by targeting alternative repair pathways.

In virology and viral genetics, recombinational events can occur between related viral genomes, contributing to the emergence of new strains and traits. The study of recombinational mechanisms informs genetics, molecular biology, and biotechnology.