title: Origins of DNA replication in the three domains of life.
abstract: Replication of DNA is essential for the propagation of life. It is somewhat surprising then that, despite the vital nature of this process, cellular organisms show a great deal of variety in the mechanisms that they employ to ensure appropriate genome duplication. This diversity is manifested along classical evolutionary lines, with distinct combinations of replicon architecture and replication proteins being found in the three domains of life: the Bacteria, the Eukarya and the Archaea. Furthermore, although there are mechanistic parallels, even within a given domain of life, the way origins of replication are defined shows remarkable variation.
authors.affiliation: MRC Cancer Cell Unit, Hutchison MRC Research Centre, Hills Road, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Nicholas P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.forename: Stephen D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Bell
mesh_terms: D001105:Archaea / Q000235:genetics*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics*; D004261:DNA Replication / Q000502:physiology*; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D018741:Replication Origin; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics; D012568:Schizosaccharomyces / Q000235:genetics