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Bacteriophage φ29 DNA replication arrest caused by codirectional collisions with the transcription machinery
Author(s) -
ElíasArnanz Montserrat,
Salas Margarita
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
the embo journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.484
H-Index - 392
eISSN - 1460-2075
pISSN - 0261-4189
DOI - 10.1093/emboj/16.18.5775
Subject(s) - biology , transcription (linguistics) , dna replication , microbiology and biotechnology , dna , genetics , philosophy , linguistics
The consequences on replication of collisions between φ29 DNA polymerase, a monomeric replicase endowed with strand displacement capacity, and the transcription machinery have been studied in vitro . Codirectional collisions with stalled transcription ternary complexes at four different promoters in the φ29 genome were found to block replication fork progression. Upon collision, the DNA polymerase remained on the template and was able to resume elongation once the RNA polymerase was allowed to move. Collisions with RNA polymerase molecules moving in the same direction also interfered with replication, causing a decrease in the replication rate. These results lead to the proposal that in bacteriophage φ29 a transcription complex physically blocks the progression of a replication fork. We suggest that temporal regulation of transcription and the low probability that the replication and transcription processes colocalize in vivo contribute to achieving minimal interference between the two events.