E. coli can replicate its entire
genome and divide only in 20
minutes because of
Answers
We have seen how a set of replication proteins rapidly and accurately generates two daughter DNA double helices behind a moving replication fork. But how is this replication machinery assembled in the first place, and how are replication forks created on a double-stranded DNA molecule? In this section, we discuss how DNA replication is initiated and how cells carefully regulate this process to ensure that it takes place at the proper positions on the chromosome and also at the appropriate time in the life of the cell. We also discuss a few of the special problems that the replication machinery in eucaryotic cells must overcome. These include the need to replicate the enormously long DNA molecules found in eucaryotic chromosomes, as well as the difficulty of copying DNA molecules that are tightly complexed with histones in nucleosomes