The Dynamics of Eukaryotic Replication Initiation: Origin Specificity, Licensing, and Firing at the Single-Molecule Level

Eukaryotic replication initiation is highly regulated and dynamic. It begins with the origin recognition complex (ORC) binding DNA sites called origins of replication. ORC, together with Cdc6 and Cdt1, mediate pre-replicative complex (pre-RC) assembly by loading a double hexamer of Mcm2–7: the core...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Duzdevich, Daniel, Ticau, Simina, Greene, Eric C., Warner, Megan Dobbins, Ivica, Nikola, Bell, Stephen P
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: Elsevier 2017
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/106210
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1736-6343
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0124-0087
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2876-610X
Description
Summary:Eukaryotic replication initiation is highly regulated and dynamic. It begins with the origin recognition complex (ORC) binding DNA sites called origins of replication. ORC, together with Cdc6 and Cdt1, mediate pre-replicative complex (pre-RC) assembly by loading a double hexamer of Mcm2–7: the core of the replicative helicase. Here, we use single-molecule imaging to directly visualize Saccharomyces cerevisiae pre-RC assembly and replisome firing in real time. We show that ORC can locate and stably bind origins within large tracts of non-origin DNA and that Cdc6 drives ordered pre-RC assembly. We further show that the dynamics of the ORC-Cdc6 interaction dictate Mcm2–7 loading specificity and that Mcm2–7 double hexamers form preferentially at a native origin sequence. Finally, we demonstrate that single Mcm2–7 hexamers propagate bidirectionally, monotonically, and processively as constituents of active replisomes.