Abstract
A GENETICALLY fixed origin of DNA replication has been identified in two bacterial species, Bacillus subtilis1 and Escherichia coli2–4, but the direction of replication is uncertain. Evidence for bidirectional replication in E. coli has been obtained by marker frequency analysis5, autoradiography6 and biochemical analysis7. Unidirectional replication in B. subtilis has been established genetically1, but recently a bidirectional replication was demonstrated by autoradiographs of replicating B. subtilis chromosomes8,9. The contradiction between the genetic and autoradiographic data may be explained by the existence of an extremely asymmetric replication so that a segment produced in one direction is too short to be detected genetically. Lack of sufficient genetic markers near the origin has prevented the analysis of delicate structures at or near the origin. We have isolated several temperature sensitive mutants localized near the origin and found that replication of the B. subtilis chromosome is indeed bidirectional with one direction blocked shortly after initiation.
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HARA, H., YOSHIKAWA, H. Asymmetric Bidirectional Replication of Bacillus subtilis Chromosome. Nature New Biology 244, 200–203 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1038/newbio244200a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/newbio244200a0
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