Chapter 11: Problem 3
Unlike prokaryotes, why do eukaryotes need multiple replication origins?
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Chapter 11: Problem 3
Unlike prokaryotes, why do eukaryotes need multiple replication origins?
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In this chapter, we focused on how DNA is replicated and synthesized. We also discussed recombination at the DNA level and the phenomenon of gene conversion. Along the way, we encountered many opportunities to consider how this information was acquired. On the basis of these discussions, what answers would you propose to the following fundamental questions? (a) What is the experimental basis for concluding that DNA replicates semiconservatively in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes? (b) How was it demonstrated that DNA synthesis occurs under the direction of DNA polymerase III and not polymerase I? (c) How do we know that in vivo DNA synthesis occurs in the \(5^{\prime}\) to \(3^{\prime}\) direction? (d) How do we know that DNA synthesis is discontinuous on one of the two template strands? (e) What observations reveal that a "telomere problem" exists during eukaryotic DNA replication, and how did we learn of the solution to this problem?
Summarize and compare the properties of DNA polymerase I II, and III.
In Kornberg's initial experiments, it was rumored that he grew E. coli in Anheuser-Busch beer vats. (Kornberg was working at Washington University in St. Louis.) Why do you think this might have been helpful to the experiment?
Prokaryotic Okazaki fragments are in the range of 1200 nucleotides, while eukaryotic fragments are much shorter, more in the range of \(100-150\) nucleotides. Balakrishnan and Bambara (2013) suggest that the shorter length of Okazaki fragments is determined by nucleosome periodicity. Design an experiment to determine whether or not the length of Okazaki fragments in eukaryotes is dependent on nucleosomes being present on \(\mathrm{J}\)
Reiji and Tuneko Okazaki conducted a now classic experiment in 1968 in which they discovered a population of short fragments synthesized during DNA replication. They introduced a short pulse of \(^{3} \mathrm{H}\) -thymidine into a culture of \(E .\) coli and extracted DNA from the cells at various intervals. In analyzing the DNA after centrifugation in denaturing gradients, they noticed that as the interval between the time of \(^{3} \mathrm{H}\) -thymidine introduction and the time of centrifugation increased, the proportion of short strands decreased and more labeled DNA was found in larger strands. What would account for this observation?
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