Researcher Cleared Clue Over DNA Replication: Research Study

Overview

• Post By : Kumar Jeetendra


• Source: Hokkaido University


• Date: 07 Jul,2016

Researcher from Hokkaido University recently clears clue over DNA replication and declares the concepts how DNA replication always moves towards forward direction.

"When DNA is replicated, one of the two chains can be copied, or synthesized, in a continuous manner while the other chain is synthesized in many fragments that need to be joined later," says Min Yao from Hokkaido University. "One of the big questions in biology has been why cells don't have a reverse-direction enzyme so that both chains can be synthesized efficiently."

Researcher found that group of enzyme named Thg1-like proteins (TLPs), which were found to add nucleotides in the opposite direction. TLPs are the exception and add nucleotides in the reverse direction to repair the "opposite end" of damaged RNAs.

Researcher used X-ray Crystallography to analyse structure of TLPs/RNA this sturdy gave researcher into the complex mechanism that TLPs employ to add nucleotides in the reverse direction. "By comparing the molecular mechanisms of forward and reverse reactions in more detail, we would like to fully understand the evolutionary context of DNA replication," says Yao.

Story source and Credit : Hokkaido University

Journal References

S. Kimura, T. Suzuki, M. Chen, K. Kato, J. Yu, A. Nakamura, I. Tanaka, M. Yao. Template-dependent nucleotide addition in the reverse (3'-5') direction by Thg1-like protein. Science Advances, 2016; 2 (3): e1501397 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1501397