Processivity of DNA polymerases: two mechanisms, one goal.
Replicative DNA polymerases are highly processive enzymes that polymerize thousands of nucleotides without dissociating from the DNA template. The recently determined structure of the Escherichia coli bacteriophage T7 DNA polymerase suggests a unique mechanism that underlies processivity, and this mechanism may generalize to other replicative polymerases.
Kelman
Z
Z
Department of Molecular Biology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10021, USA. z-kelman@ski.mskcc.org
Hurwitz
J
J
O'Donnell
M
M
D017122:Bacteriophage T4 / Q000201:enzymology; D017123:Bacteriophage T7 / Q000201:enzymology; D004261:DNA Replication / Q000502:physiology*; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011487:Protein Conformation
C023140:DNA replicase; C034970:bacteriophage T7 induced DNA polymerase; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase