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Science 5 October 2001:
Vol. 294. no. 5540, pp. 96 - 100
DOI: 10.1126/science.1061724
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Review

Making Sense of Eukaryotic DNA Replication Origins

David M. Gilbert

DNA replication is the process by which cells make one complete copy of their genetic information before cell division. In bacteria, readily identifiable DNA sequences constitute the start sites or origins of DNA replication. In eukaryotes, replication origins have been difficult to identify. In some systems, any DNA sequence can promote replication, but other systems require specific DNA sequences. Despite these disparities, the proteins that regulate replication are highly conserved from yeast to humans. The resolution may lie in a current model for once-per-cell-cycle regulation of eukaryotic replication that does not require defined origin sequences. This model implies that the specification of precise origins is a response to selective pressures that transcend those of once-per-cell-cycle replication, such as the coordination of replication with other chromosomal functions. Viewed in this context, the locations of origins may be an integral part of the functional organization of eukaryotic chromosomes.

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, 750 East Adams Street, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA. E-mail: gilbertd{at}mail.upstate.edu

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K.-i. Yanagi, T. Mizuno, Z. You, and F. Hanaoka (2002)
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C. Keller, O. Hyrien, R. Knippers, and T. Krude (2002)
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Initiation Sites Are Distributed at Frequent Intervals in the Chinese Hamster Dihydrofolate Reductase Origin of Replication but Are Used with Very Different Efficiencies.
P. A. Dijkwel, S. Wang, and J. L. Hamlin (2002)
Mol. Cell. Biol. 22, 3053-3065
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The origin recognition complex: from simple origins to complex functions.
S. P. Bell (2002)
Genes & Dev. 16, 659-672
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The chromosome replication cycle.
J. F. X. Diffley and K. Labib (2002)
J. Cell Sci. 115, 869-872
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Genome-Wide Distribution of ORC and MCM Proteins in S. cerevisiae: High-Resolution Mapping of Replication Origins.
J. J. Wyrick, J. G. Aparicio, T. Chen, J. D. Barnett, E. G. Jennings, R. A. Young, S. P. Bell, and O. M. Aparicio (2001)
Science 294, 2357-2360
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