Bacterial and Eukaryotic Replisome Machines

Cellular genomic DNA is replicated by a multiprotein replisome machine. The replisome contains numerous essential factors that unwind, prime and synthesize each of the two strands of duplex DNA. The antiparallel structure of DNA, and unidirectional activity of DNA polymerases, requires the two strands of DNA to be extended in opposite directions, and this structural feature requires distinctive processes for synthesis of the two strands. Genome duplication is of central importance to all cell types, and one may expect the replisome apparatus to be conserved from bacteria to human, as is the case with RNA polymerase driven transcription and ribosome mediated translation. However, it is known that the replication factors of bacteria are not homologous to those of archaea and eukaryotes, indicating that the replication process evolved twice, independently, rather than from a common ancestor cell. Thus, the different domains of life may exhibit significant differences in their mechanistic strategy of replication. In this review, we compare and contrast the different structures and mechanistic features of the cellular replication machinery in the three domains of life.