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The replication fork is a structure that forms within the long helical DNA during DNA replication. It is produced by enzymes called helicases that break the hydrogen bonds that hold the DNA strands together in a helix. The resulting structure has two branching "prongs", each one made up of a single strand of DNA.
The other way is to label newly synthesized DNA with chemically tagged nucleotides that become incorporated into the strands as they are synthesized, and then catch cells at different times during the duplication process and purify the DNA synthesized at each of these times using the chemical tag.
In eukaryotes, the vast majority of DNA synthesis occurs during S phase of the cell cycle, and the entire genome must be unwound and duplicated to form two daughter copies. During G 2 , any damaged DNA or replication errors are corrected.
Since new DNA must be packaged into nucleosomes to function properly, synthesis of canonical (non-variant) histone proteins occurs alongside DNA replication. During early S-phase, the cyclin E-Cdk2 complex phosphorylates NPAT , a nuclear coactivator of histone transcription. [ 6 ]
Gene duplication (or chromosomal duplication or gene amplification) is a major mechanism through which new genetic material is generated during molecular evolution. It can be defined as any duplication of a region of DNA that contains a gene .
During the period of exponential DNA increase at 37 °C, the rate of strand elongation was 749 nucleotides per second. The mutation rate per base pair per round of replication during phage T4 DNA synthesis is 2.4 × 10 −8. [11] Thus, semiconservative DNA replication is both rapid and accurate.
As a result of this base pair complementarity, all the information in the double-stranded sequence of a DNA helix is duplicated on each strand, which is vital in DNA replication. This reversible and specific interaction between complementary base pairs is critical for all the functions of DNA in organisms. [7]
At the G1/S checkpoint, p53 acts to ensure that the cell is ready for DNA replication, while at the G2/M checkpoint p53 acts to ensure that the cells have properly duplicated their content before entering mitosis. [40] Specifically, when DNA damage is present, ATM and ATR kinases are activated, activating various checkpoint kinases. [41]