Antequera Francisco
Instituto de Microbiología Bioquímica, CSIC/Universidad de Salamanca, Edificio Departamental, Campus Miguel de Unamuno, Salamanca, Spain.
EMBO J. 2004 Nov 10;23(22):4365-70. doi: 10.1038/sj.emboj.7600450. Epub 2004 Oct 28.
Identification of DNA replication origins (ORIs) at a genome-wide level in eukaryotes has proved to be difficult due to the high degree of degeneracy of their sequences. Recent structural and functional approaches, however, have circumvented this limitation and have provided reliable predictions of their genomic distribution in the yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe, and they have also significantly increased the number of characterized ORIs in animals. This article reviews recent evidence on how ORIs are specified and maintained in these systems and on their regulation and sensitivity to epigenetic signals. It also discusses the possible additional involvement of ORIs in processes other than DNA replication.
由于真核生物中DNA复制起点(ORIs)的序列存在高度简并性,在全基因组水平上鉴定它们已被证明是困难的。然而,最近的结构和功能方法克服了这一限制,并提供了对它们在酿酒酵母和粟酒裂殖酵母基因组中分布的可靠预测,而且它们还显著增加了动物中已鉴定ORIs的数量。本文综述了关于在这些系统中ORIs如何被指定和维持、它们的调控以及对表观遗传信号的敏感性的最新证据。它还讨论了ORIs在DNA复制以外的过程中可能的其他作用。