We continued research on the molecular mechanism of meiotic recombination in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Our work is focused on two aspects of meiotic recombination. We have examined an initiation event in meiotic recombination, the formation of double-strand breaks in DNA, with the aim of determining the enzyme(s) that form these breaks and the factors that control the frequency and location of breaks. In addition, we have examined the relationship between meiotic recombination and meiotic chromosome pairing, with the ultimate aim of isolating and characterizing DNA intermediates in meiotic recombination and chromosome pairing.