RNA primer-primase complexes serve as the signal for polymerase recycling and Okazaki fragment initiation in T4 phage DNA replication.

ABSTRACT: The opposite strand polarity of duplex DNA necessitates that the leading strand is replicated continuously whereas the lagging strand is replicated in discrete segments known as Okazaki fragments. The lagging-strand polymerase sometimes recycles to begin the synthesis of a new Okazaki fragment before finishing the previous fragment, creating a gap between the Okazaki fragments. The mechanism and signal that initiate this behavior-that is, the signaling mechanism-have not been definitively identified. We examined the role of RNA primer-primase complexes left on the lagging ssDNA from primer synthesis in initiating early lagging-strand polymerase recycling. We show for the T4 bacteriophage DNA replication system that primer-primase complexes have a residence time similar to the timescale of

SUBMITTER: Spiering MM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5465878 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature