Initiation of DNA replication in phages and plasmids-a workshop summary

Recent progress in understanding initiation mechanisms of DNA replication was discussed by some 30 speakers from Europe and U.S.A. in a workshop funded entirely by the Juan March Foundation of Madrid. Several speakers were postdoctoral associates and were selected from poster presenters. This was probably the first meeting at which phage and plasmid systems were given top billing together. The confluence was highly successful because of considerable overlap in strategies employed by the two systems. Mechanistic studies on DNA replication started with phage and the lessons learned have guided the thinking on eukaryotic DNA replication (Stillman, J. Biol. Chem. (1994) 269, 7047). The research on bacterial plasmids has also been pioneering in defining the principles of initiation control and has unraveled novel biological regulatory mechanisms such as antisense control.