Replication and subnuclear location dynamics of the immunoglobulin heavy-chain locus in B-lineage cells

The murine immunoglobulin heavy-chain (Igh) locus provides an important model for understanding the replication of tissue-specific gene loci in mammalian cells. We have observed two DNA replication programs with dramatically different temporal replication patterns for the Igh locus in B-lineage cells. In pro- and pre-B-cell lines and in ex vivo-expanded pro-B cells, the entire locus is replicated early in S phase. In three cell lines that exhibit the early-replication pattern, we found that replication forks progress in both directions through the constant-region genes, which is consistent with the activation of multiple initiation sites. In contrast, in plasma cell lines, replication of the Igh locus occurs through a triphasic pattern similar to that previously detected in MEL cells. Sequences downstream of the Igh-C alpha gene replicate early in S, while heavy-chain variable (Vh) gene sequences replicate late in S. An approximately 500-kb transition region connecting sequences that replicate early and late is replicated progressively later in S. The formation of the transition region in different cell lines is independent of the sequences encompassed. In B-cell lines that exhibit a triphasic-replication pattern, replication forks progress in one direction through the examined constant-region genes. Timing data and the direction of replication fork movement indicate that replication of the transition region occurs by a single replication fork, as previously described for MEL cells. Associated with the contrasting replication programs are differences in the subnuclear locations of Igh loci. When the entire locus is replicated early in S, the Igh locus is located away from the nuclear periphery, but when Vh gene sequences replicate late and there is a temporal-transition region, the entire Igh locus is located near the nuclear periphery.     

Changes in gene position are accompanied by a change in time of replication

The globin and immunoglobulin multigene families have been used to study the effect of chromosomal organization on the time of gene replication. Some of the genes are late-replicating, providing the first identification of late-replicating sequences that are not highly repetitive. One is a member of the mouse alpha-globin gene family, which consists of genes mapping to three different chromosomes. The other genes in this family replicate early during S. Our studies demonstrate that immunoglobulin gene rearrangements and rearrangements between these genes and the c-myc oncogene are accompanied by dramatic differences in their temporal order of replication. We conclude that a gene's position in the chromosome, rather than its sequence, determines the time of replication. We suggest that the differences in association with gene rearrangement result from changes in the proximity of the affected gene to sites that control the temporal order of replication during S.     

Replication of the rRNA and legumin genes in synchronized root cells of pea (Pisum sativum): evidence for transient EcoR I sites in replicating rRNA genes

Summary The temporal pattern of replication of the rRNA and legumin genes differs in synchronized pea root cells. The relative number of rRNA genes replicated hourly during the first five hours of S phase ranges between 5 and 10 percent. In late S phase, during hours six through nine, the number of rRNA genes replicated increases reaching a maximum of about 25 percent at the ninth hour. Unlike the rRNA genes, the legumin genes have a wave-like pattern of replication peaking in early S phase at the third hour and again in late S phase at the eighth hour.Replicating rDNA, isolated by benzoylated naphthoylated DEAE-column chromatography, has EcoR I restriction sites that are absent in non-replicating rDNA sequences. The cleavage of these sites is independent of the time of rDNA replication. The transient nature of the EcoR I sites suggests that they exist in a hemimethylated state in parental DNA.The two Hind III repeat-size classes of rDNA of var. Alaska peas are replicated simultaneously as cells progress through S phase. Thus, even if the 9.0 kb and 8.6 kb repeat classes are located on different chromosomes, their temporal order of replication is the same.     

Replication of the dihydrofolate reductase genes on double minute chromosomes in a murine cell line

The purpose of this study is to determine the kinetics of the replication of intrachromosomal versus extrachromosomal amplified dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) genes. Previous studies reported that the DHFR gene, when carried intrachromosomally on a homogeneously staining region, replicates (as a unit) within the first 2 h of the S phase of the cell cycle. We wished to determine if the extrachromosomal location of the amplified genes carried on double minute chromosomes effects the timing of their replication. Equilibrium cesium chloride ultracentrifugation was used to separate newly replicated (BUdR-labeled) DNA from bulk DNA in a synchronized cell population. Hybridization with the cDNA for the DHFR gene allowed us to determine the period of time within the cell cycle in which the DHFR DNA sequences were replicated. We found that, in contrast to intrachromosomal dihydrofolate reductase genes that uniformly replicate as a unit at the beginning of the S phase of the cell cycle, dihydrofolate reductase genes carried on double minute chromosomes (DMs) replicate throughout the S phase of the cell cycle. These results suggest that control of replication of extrachromosomal DNA sequences may differ from intrachromosomal sequences.     

Replicational organization of three weakly expressed loci in Physarum polycephalum

We previously mapped early-activated replication origins in the promoter regions of five abundantly transcribed genes in the slime mold Physarum polycephalum. This physical linkage between origins and genes is congruent with the preferential early replication of the active genes in mammalian cells. To determine how general this replicational organization is in the synchronous plasmodium of Physarum, we analyzed the replication of three weakly expressed genes. Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) density-shift and gene dosage experiments indicated that the redB (regulated in development) and redE genes replicate early, whereas redA replicates in mid-S phase. Bi-dimensional gel electrophoresis revealed that redA coincides with an origin that appears to be activated within a large temporal window in S phase so that the replication of the gene is not well defined temporally. The early replication of the redB and redE genes is due to the simultaneous activation of flanking origins at the onset of S phase. As a result, these two genes correspond to termination sites of DNA replication. Our data demonstrate that not all the Physarum promoters are preferred sites of initiation but, so far, all the expressed genes analyzed in detail either coincide with a replication origin or are embedded into a cluster of early firing replicons.     

Time of replication of ARS elements along yeast chromosome III.

The replication of putative replication origins (ARS elements) was examined for 200 kilobases of chromosome III of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. By using synchronous cultures and transfers from dense to light isotope medium, the temporal pattern of mitotic DNA replication of eight fragments that contain ARSs was determined. ARS elements near the telomeres replicated late in S phase, while internal ARS elements replicated in the first half of S phase. The results suggest that some ARS elements in the chromosome may be inactive as replication origins. The actively expressed mating type locus, MAT, replicated early in S phase, while the silent cassettes, HML and HMR, replicated late. Unexpectedly, chromosome III sequences were found to replicate late in G1 at the arrest induced by the temperature-sensitive cdc7 allele.     

Gene replication in the presence of aphidicolin

DNA replication in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells is restricted to the S phase of the cell cycle, and different genes are duplicated at specific times, according to a well-defined temporal order. We have investigated whether activation of initiation sites, in proximity to genes that are replicated in different portions of the S phase, could be detected when synchronized 10T1/2 cells were maintained in aphidicolin (APC), an inhibitor of DNA polymerases alpha and delta. Cells released from confluence arrest into medium containing 2 micrograms/mL APC progressed into the S phase, and nascent DNA accumulated during incubations of 24 and 32 h. Exposure to APC for 40 or 48 h resulted in growth of the radiolabeled DNA into larger molecules. Replicating DNA was isolated in CsCl gradients and probed with 32P-labeled gene probes for early-replicating genes (e.g., Ha-ras, mos, and myc) and a late-replicating gene (VH Ig). DNA replicated during the 24-h incubation in APC was enriched in Ha-ras gene sequences. The VH Ig gene did not replicate in cells incubated for as long as 56 h with APC. The myc and the mos genes were detected after 32 and 40 h in APC, respectively. The myc gene is replicated in 10T1/2 cells after Ha-ras but before mos. Therefore, the order of activation of these genes was conserved in the presence of APC. The delay in replication of myc and mos correlated well with the slowing of DNA replication by APC.     

ARS replication during the yeast S phase

A 1.45 kb circular plasmid derived from yeast chromosome IV contains the autonomous replication element called ARS1. Isotope density transfer experiments show that each plasmid molecule replicates once each S phase, with initiation depending on two genetically defined steps required for nuclear DNA replication. A density transfer experiment with synchronized cells demonstrates that the ARS1 plasmid population replicates early in the S phase. The sequences adjacent to ARS1 on chromosome IV also initiate replication early, suggesting that the ARS1 plasmid contains information which determines its time of replication. The times of replication for two other yeast chromosome sequences, ARS2 and a sequence referred to as 1OZ, indicate that the temporal order of replication is ARS1 leads to ARS2 leads to 1OZ. These experiments show directly that specific chromosome regions replicate at specific times during the yeast S phase. If ARS elements are origins of chromosome replication, then the experiment reveals times of activation for two origins.