Structures and operating principles of the replisome

• DOI: 10.1126/science.aav7003
• Publication Date: 2019-01-25T00:17:07Z
• Authors: Yang Gao; Yanxiang Cui; Tara Fox; Shiqiang Lin; Huaibin Wang; Natalia de Val; Z. Hong Zhou; Wei Yang
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; General Science & Technology; Cryoelectron Microscopy; DNA Helicases; 500; DNA Primase; DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase; Biological Sciences; 540; Virus Replication; Viral Proteins; 03 medical and health sciences; Protein Domains; Bacteriophage T7; Physical Sciences; Genetics; Biochemistry and Cell Biology

Structures of the simplest replisome

The DNA replisome performs concerted parental-strand separation and DNA synthesis on both strands. Gao et al. report the cryo–electron microscopy structures of the minimum set of bacteriophage T7 proteins that can carry out leading- and lagging-strand synthesis at the replication fork (see the Perspective by Li and O'Donnell). Three key enzymes involved in DNA replication—DNA polymerase, helicase, and primase—were visualized in complex with substrate DNA, demonstrating their highly dynamic organizations on both strands. Comparison of prokaryotic and eukaryotic replisomes reveals evolutionarily conserved operating principles and provides a structural basis for understanding coordination among DNA replication, recombination, and repair.

Science , this issue p. eaav7003 ; see also p. 814