title: Breaking the rules: bacteria that use several DNA polymerase IIIs.
abstract: Studies using Escherichia coli DNA polymerase (Pol) III as the prototype for bacterial DNA replication have suggested that--in contrast to eukaryotes--one replicase performs all of the main functions at the replication fork. However, recent studies have revealed that replication in other bacteria requires two forms of Pol III, one of which seems to extend RNA primers by only a few nucleotides before transferring the product to the other polymerase--an arrangement analogous to that in eukaryotes. Yet another group of bacteria encode a second Pol III (ImuC), which apparently replaces a Pol Y-type polymerase (Pol V) that is required for induced mutagenesis in E. coli. A complete understanding of complex bacterial replicases will allow the simultaneous biochemical screening of all their components and, thus, the identification of new antibacterial compounds.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Chemistry 76, UCB 215, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA. charles.mchenry@colorado.edu
authors.forename: Charles S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: McHenry
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001419:Bacteria / Q000201:enzymology*; D004258:DNA Polymerase III / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004261:DNA Replication / Q000502:physiology*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008954:Models, Biological; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D007527:Isoenzymes; D004258:DNA Polymerase III