Why eukaryotes have multiple origins of replication?
Answers
Prokaryotic chromosomes have one origin of replication, while eukaryotic chromosomes have multiple origins. This is because eukaryotic chromosomes are much larger, so multiple origins are needed to replicate the entire chromosome in a short amount of time. Prokaryotic chromosomes are small, so they can get away with having only one origin.
Eukaryotic chromosomes are linear. They have telomeres, which are regions of repeated nucleotides. Telomeres do not code for anything. They are located at the two ends of the chromosomes. When a linear piece of DNA is replicated, the very ends of the DNA are unable to be replicated, and the new DNA molecule has lost some nucleotides at the ends. The telomeres at the ends protect important genetic information from being lost.