Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells expressing both a-and a-mating-type (MAT) genes (termed mating-type heterozygosity) exhibit higher rates of spontaneous recombination and greater radiation resistance than cells expressing only MATa or MATa. MAT heterozygosity suppresses recombination defects of four mutations involved in homologous recombination: complete deletions of RAD55 or RAD57, an ATPase-defective Rad51 mutation (rad51-K191R), and a C-terminal truncation of Rad52, rad52-D327. We investigated the genetic basis of MAT-dependent suppression of these mutants by deleting genes whose expression is controlled by the Mata1-Mata2 repressor and scoring resistance to both campothecin (CPT) and phleomycin. Haploid rad55D strains became more damage resistant after deleting genes required for nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ), a process that is repressed in MATa/MATa cells. Surprisingly, NHEJ mutations do not suppress CPT sensitivity of rad51-K191R or rad52-D327. However, rad51-K191R is uniquely suppressed by deleting the RME1 gene encoding a repressor of meiosis or its coregulator SIN4; this effect is independent of the meiosis-specific homolog, Dmc1. Sensitivity of rad52-D327 to CPT was unexpectedly increased by the MATa/MATa-repressed gene YGL193C, emphasizing the complex ways in which MAT regulates homologous recombination. The rad52-D327 mutation is suppressed by deleting the prolyl isomerase Fpr3, which is not MATregulated. rad55D is also suppressed by deletion of PST2 and/or YBR052C (RFS1, rad55 suppressor), two members of a three-gene family of flavodoxin-fold proteins that associate in a nonrandom fashion with chromatin. All three recombination-defective mutations are made more sensitive by deletions of Rad6 and of the histone deacetylases Rpd3 and Ume6, although these mutations are not themselves CPT or phleomycin sensitive. D NA repair in budding yeast is strongly influenced by the cell's mating status. Saccharomyces cells can be of three mating types: those able to mate expressing only MATa or only MATa and nonmating cells expressing both MATa and MATa. MATa/MATa diploid cells are more radiation resistant and recombination proficient than diploids expressing only MATa or MATa (Friis and Roman 1968;Heude and Fabre 1993;Fasullo and Dave 1994;Lowell et al. 2003). A similar increase in radioresistance and resistance to radiomimetic drugs is seen in haploid cells that express both mating-type alleles. Coexpression of MATa and MATa, either in diploids or in haploids, leads to the formation of the Mata1-Mata2 corepressor that turns off the expression of haploid-specific genes and induces expression of diploid-specific genes. The most striking effect of a1-a2 repression is a severe disabling of nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) by the repression of NEJ1 (Å strö m et al. 1999;Lee et al. 1999; FrankVaillant and Marcand 2001;Kegel et al. 2001;Ooi and Boeke 2001;Valencia et al. 2001). Whether any of the other targets of a1-a2 repression affect homologous recombination (HR) is not known.A double-strand break (DSB) c...