Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Georgescu RE
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3721970 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Dec
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Georgescu Roxana E RE Kurth Isabel I O'Donnell Mike E ME
Nature structural & molecular biology 20111211 1
The Escherichia coli replisome contains three polymerases, one more than necessary to duplicate the two parental strands. Using single-molecule studies, we reveal two advantages conferred by the third polymerase. First, dipolymerase replisomes are inefficient at synthesizing lagging strands, leaving single-strand gaps, whereas tripolymerase replisomes fill strands almost to completion. Second, tripolymerase replisomes are much more processive than dipolymerase replisomes. These features account ...[more]