DNA replication in eukaryotes
The replication of DNA in eukaryotes is similar to that of prokaryotes, but have some differences:
- The DNA of eukaryotic cells is strongly associated with histones, forming nucleosomes. In replication, the strand that serves as the template for the lead strand stays with the histones and the two twist to form the old nucleosomes. The strand that serves as a pattern for the lag, and the lag strand, wrap around new histone octamers to form new nucleosomes.
- The DNA of the eukaryotic chromosome is much longer than prokaryotic DNA, in addition to being bound to histones, the replication process is much slower. To speed up the process, there are a hundred replication origins on the eukaryotic chromosome, about a hundred replication bubbles. These replication initiation points are called replicons. Replication has a single origin in prokaryotes, while in eukaryotes there are multiple.
- In eukaryotes, Okazaki fragments are smaller (about one hundred to two hundred nucleotides) than in prokaryotes (1000 to 2000 nucleotides).
- DNA replication in eukaryotes is completed until reaching the telomere, the end of the chromosome. By eliminating the last primer RNA, the delayed strand remains incomplete, since DNA polymerase cannot fill the gap because it cannot do so in the 3'→5' direction. This causes the telomere to shorten each time the cell divides, which is associated with aging and cell death processes.