Perturbations in simian virus 40 DNA synthesis by ultraviolet light.

Perturbations of Simian Virus 40 (SV40) DNA replication by ultraviolet (UV) light during the lytic cycle in permissive monkey CV-1 cells resemble those seen in host cell DNA replication. Formation of Form I DNA molecules (i.e. completion of SV40 DNA synthesis) was more sensitive to UV irradiation than synthesis of replicative intermediates or Form II molecules, consistent with inhibition of DNA chain elongation. The observed amounts of [3H]thymidine incorporated in UV-irradiated molecules could be predicted on the assumption that pyrimidine dimers are responsible for blocking nascent DNA strand growth. The relative proportion of labeled Form I molecules in UV-irradiated cultures rapidly increased to near-control values with incubation after 20 or 40 J/m2 of light (0.9--1.0 or 1.8--2.0 dimers per SV40 genome, respectively). This rapid increase and the failure of Form II molecules to accumulate suggest that SV40 growing forks can rapidly bypass many dimers. Form II molecules formed after UV irradiation were not converted to linear (Form III) molecules by the dimer-specific T4 endonuclease V, suggesting either that there are no gaps opposite dimers in these molecules or that T4 endonuclease V cannot use Form II molecules as substrates.     

Size distribution of DNA replicative intermediates in bacteriophage P4 and in Escherichia coli.

We have tested the hypothesis that Okazaki fragment replicative intermediates have defined termini using as a model system the in vivo DNA replication of the tiny bacteriophage P4. The kinetics of formation of intermediates in P4 DNA replication have been investigated. P4 DNA replication in DNA polymerase I-deficient mutants generates Okazaki fragments with a size distribution similar to that in uninfected cells. When P4-derived Okazaki fragments are resolved by agarose gel electrophoresis, no discrete size classes appear. This finding is incompatible with sequence-specific models of Okazaki fragment formation but supports the view that these replication intermediates are initiated and terminated at random locations on the P4 chromosome.     

Replication of SV40 chromatin in extracts from eggs of Xenopus laevis.

Simian virus 40 (SV40) nucleoprotein complexes were prepared from lytically infected cells and used as primer-templates for DNA replication in protein extracts from Xenopus eggs. We found that nucleoprotein containing replicating SV40 DNA served as primer-template while nucleoprotein with nonreplicating SV40 DNA was ineffective. In vitro DNA synthesis begins with short DNA fragments ("Okazaki fragments") which are, in later steps, joined to give unit length SV40 DNA strands, suggesting that in vivo initiated rounds of replication are completed in vitro in the Xenopus system. This conclusion is supported by a restriction enzyme analysis showing that in vitro DNA synthesis occurs in fragments distal to the SV40 origin of replication. Our studies indicate that SV40 DNA replication in Xenopus extracts can be used an an experimental system to study the biochemistry of replicative DNA chain elongation in vitro.     

Analysis of replicative intermediates produced during bacteriophage phi 29 DNA replication in vitro.

Replication of bacteriophage phi 29 DNA initiates at either end of its linear double-stranded DNA molecule and proceeds by a strand-displacement mechanism. In the present paper we have used an in vitro phi 29 DNA replication system to analyse by electron microscopy the replicative intermediates produced at different reaction times. Two types of replicative intermediates were observed: type I (full-length double-stranded phi 29 DNA molecules with one or more single-stranded DNA branches) and type II (full-length phi 29 DNA molecules formed by a double-stranded DNA portion of variable length from one end plus a single-stranded DNA portion spanning to the other end). Thus, the types of replicative intermediates produced in vivo were also formed in the in vitro phi 29 DNA replication system. Analysis of type I intermediates indicated that initiation of DNA replication occurs preferentially at both ends of the same DNA template, in a non-simultaneous manner. Type II intermediates appeared as early as two minutes after the reaction started, well before unit-length single-stranded phi 29 DNA molecules were synthesized. In addition, replication of recombinant phi 29 DNA templates lacking terminal protein at one end did not produce type II intermediates and led to an accumulation of full-length single-stranded phi 29 DNA molecules. These two observations strongly suggest that type II intermediates appear when two growing DNA chains, running from opposite ends, merge.     

Effects of cycloheximide on chromatin biosynthesis.

In the presence of sufficient cycloheximide, puromycin or NaCl to quantitatively inhibit protein synthesis in HeLa cells, thymidine incorporation continues at 20% of control rates for 60 to 90 minutes, after which incorporation gradually ceases. Both DNA and protein synthesis revert to control rates in about five minutes after removal of cycloheximide.DNA synthesis in the presence of cycloheximide appears to be a continuation of the replicative process by several criteria. The persistent DNA synthesis in the presence of cycloheximide is abolished by hydroxyurea, which does not inhibit repair synthesis, while ethidium bromide, an inhibitor of mitochondrial DNA synthesis, is without effect. Nuclear DNA is not nicked during incubation in cycloheximide. Low molecular weight Okazaki fragments (4 to 5 S) are both synthesized and processed to high molecular weight DNA in cells treated with cycloheximide. Replication forks, identified in alkaline CsCl gradients by incorporation of bromodeoxyuridine as a density marker just before the addition of cycloheximide, are selectively labeled with radioactive thymidine during DNA synthesis.In the presence of cycloheximide the maturation of DNA intermediates into high molecular weight DNA is defective. All size classes of DNA fragments, normally present during progression of low to high molecular weight DNA, are demonstrable in cells preincubated in cycloheximide for prolonged periods. However, 21 S fragments, intermediate in size between Okazaki pieces and mature, high molecular weight DNA, accumulate in cells treated with cycloheximide, demonstrating a defect in maturation of the 21 S intermediates into high molecular weight DNA. After removal of the cycloheximide, the 21 S DNA fragments are processed to high molecular weight DNA at a significantly impaired rate, requiring about three hours for completion of chain growth as compared to 40 to 60 minutes in controls. The slowed growth of DNA fragments synthesized in the presence of cycloheximide following drug removal is not due to persisting effects of cyeloheximide since DNA synthesis immediately following removal of the drug has chain growth rates similar to that of controls.Pools of chromatin proteins exist in HeLa cells, as demonstrated by a brief, labeled amino acid pulse followed by a chase with cycloheximide. The specific activity of chromatin proteins increases significantly during 60 minutes of cycloheximide inhibition. Histone f2a1 accumulates preferentially during this chase period, suggesting that a supply of this highly conserved histone might be requisite to continued replication.Comparison of chromatin synthesized during cycloheximide treatment with pulse-labeled control chromatin has provided insight into the mechanism of assembly of proteins and DNA into the nucleoprotein complex. The DNA of ch-chromatin² is more susceptible to nuclease digestion than control chromatin, suggesting that it is deficient in protein content. Upon reversal of cycloheximide inhibition, the recovery of nuclease digestibility of ch-chromatin to control values takes two to three hours, a time similar to that required for conversion of the corresponding 21 S chDNA fragments to high molecular weight DNA. Briefly pulse-labeled (30 to 60 s) DNA in control chromatin also has an enhanced susceptibility to nuclease digestion of the same degree as found in ch-ehromatin. The time of recovery of increased nuclease susceptibility of newly made chromatin DNA (via protein addition) to control levels is about 10 to 15 minutes and corresponds to the time required for synthesis of replicon-sized units of DNA.In addition to being nuclease-sensitive, both cycloheximide and newly synthesized (30 to 60 s) chromatin have lighter buoyant densities in CsCl gradients than bulk chromatin. This property exists for only one to two minutes in controls and is probably due to structural properties distinct from those rendering nuclease sensitivity.Limit digests of chromatin by micrococcal nuclease yield a characteristic pattern of polynucleotides when resolved in polyacrylamide gels. The radioactivity profiles of limit digest polynucleotides from control and ch-chromatin are identical, indicating that pre-existing chromatin proteins remain in place on newly replicated DNA in the same fashion as in mature chromatin.     

Metabolism of Okazaki fragments during simian virus 40 DNA replication.

Essentially all of the Okazaki fragments on replicating Simian virus 40 (SV40)DNA could be grouped into one of three classes. Class I Okazaki fragments (about 20%) were separated from longer nascent DNA chains by a single phosphodiester bond interruption (nick) and were quantitatively identified by treating purified replicating DNA with Escherichia coli DNA ligase and then measuring the fraction of Okazaki fragments joined to longer nascent DNA chains. Similarly, class II Okazaki fragments (about 30%) were separated by a region of single-stranded DNA template (gap) that could be filled and sealed by T4 DNA polymerase plus E. coli DNA ligase, and class III fragments (about 50%) were separated by RNA primers that could be removed with E. coli DNA olymerase I, allowing the fragments to be joined with E. coli DNA ligase. These results were obtained with replicating SV40 DNA that had been briefly labeled with radioactive precursors in either intact cells or isolated nuclei. When isolated nuclei were further incubated in the presence of cytosol, all of the Okazaki fragments were converted into longer DNA strands as expected for intermediates in DNA synthesis. However, when washed nuclei were incubated in the abscence of cytosol, both class I and class II Okazaki fragments accumulated despite the excision of RNA primers: class III Okazaki fragments and RNA-DNA covalent linkages both disappeared at similar rates. These data demonstrate the existence of RNA primers in whole cells as well as in isolated nuclei, and identify a unique gap-filling step that is not simply an extension of the DNA chain elongation process concomitant with the excision of RNA primers. One or more factos found in cytosol, in addition to DNA polymerase alpha, are specifically involved in the gap-filling and ligation steps. The sizes of mature Okazaki fragments (class I) and Okazaki fragments whose synthesis was completed by T4 DNA polymerase were measured by gel electrophoresis and found to be broadly distributed between 40 and 290 nucleotides with an average length of 135 nucleotides. Since 80% and 90% of the Okazaments does not occur at uniformly spaced intervals along the DNA template. During the excision of RNA primers, nascent DNA chains with a single ribonucleotide covalently attached to the 5' terminus were identified as transient intermediates. These intermediates accumulated during excision of RNA primers in the presence of adenine 9-beta-D-arabinoside 5'-triphosphate, and those Okazaki fragments blocked by RNA primers (class III) were found to have originated the farthest from the 5' ends of long nascent DNA strands. Thus, RNA primers appear to be excised in two steps with the second step, removal of the final ribonucleotide, being stimulated by concomitant DNA synthesis. These and other data were used to construct a comprehensive metabolic pathway for the initiation, elongation, and maturation of Okazaki fragments at mammalian DNA replication forks.     

Identification of the replicative intermediates in SV40 DNA replication in vitro.

The soluble replication system is which the exogenously added simian virus 40 (SV40) DNA can be replicated semiconservatively in vitro, has been developed (Ariga and Sugano, J.Virol. 48, 481, 1983). This paper further characterized the in vitro products synthesized on the cloned DNA containing the origin of SV40 DNA replication. The time course and pluse-chase experiments showed that the in vitro products were converted from the open circle to closed circles having the various superhelical densities, and finally to the twisted formI DNA seen in vivo by the analysis of agarose gel electrophoresis, alkaline sucrose gradient centrifugation, and density-transfer in isopycnic centrifugation. The replicative intermediates isolated after the short term incubation had replicated strands of the size smaller than the full length, most of which correspond to that of the putative Okazaki fragment. These and the previous results indicate that this in vitro system should be useful to investigate the molecular mechanism of SV40 DNA replication.     

Accumulation of ColE1 early replicative intermediates catalyzed by extracts of Escherichia coli dnaG mutant strains.

To investigate the events occurring at the replication forks during DNA synthesis, we studied the replication of plasmid ColE1 DNA in vivo and in vitro, using strains of Escherichia coli carrying either the dnaG3(Ts) or dnaG308(Ts) mutation. Extracts of both mutant strains supported in vitro DNA synthesis, but the amount of [3H]TMP incorporated into DNA was always less for mutant extracts than for extracts of revertant strains, which were able to grow at 42 degrees C. Sucrose gradient analysis, Southern blot analysis, and electron microscopy showed that mutant extracts synthesize a large number of early replicative intermediates containing one or two (one on each template strand) fragments at the origin of replication and some completed molecules, either open circles or covalently closed circles. The revertant extracts synthesized more completed molecules although the fraction of templates used was about the same, 0.27 for mutant extracts and 0.21 for revertant extracts. Our results show that a mutation in dnaG causes a block in the synthesis of both leading and lagging strands after initiation, which results in the accumulation of early replicative intermediates. The average size of the newly replicated region in the early replicative intermediates is 730 bases as measured from electron micrographs of early replicative intermediates. We conclude that the DnaG protein functions in lagging strand synthesis and may be necessary for the continuation of leading strand synthesis as well.     

Cytarabine-induced destabilization of a model Okazaki fragment.

Cytarabine is a potent anticancer drug that interferes with elongation of the lagging strand at the replication fork during DNA synthesis. The effects of cytarabine substitution on the structural and thermodynamic properties of a model Okazaki fragment were investigated using UV hyperchromicity and 1H NMR spectroscopy to determine how cytarabine alters the physicochemical properties of Okazaki fragments that are intermediates during DNA replication. Two model Okazaki fragments were prepared corresponding to a primary initiation site for DNA replication in the SV40 viral genome. One model Okazaki fragment consisted of five ribo- and seven deoxyribonucleotides on the hybrid strand, together with its complementary (DNA) strand. The second model Okazaki fragment was identical to the first with the exception of cytarabine substitution for deoxycytidine at the third DNA nucleotide of the hybrid strand. Thermodynamic parameters for the duplex to single strand transition for each model Okazaki fragment were calculated from the concentration dependence of the T m at 260 nm. Cytarabine significantly decreased the stability of this model Okazaki fragment, decreasing the melting temperature from 46.8 to 42.4 degrees C at a concentration of 1.33 x 10(-5) M. The free energy for the duplex to single strand transition was 1.2 kcal/mol less favorable for the cytarabine-substituted Okazaki fragment relative to the control at 37 degrees C. Analysis of the temperature dependence of the imino1H resonances for the two duplexes demonstrated that cytarabine specifically destabilized the DNA:DNA duplex portion of the model Okazaki fragment. These results are consistent with inhibition of lagging strand DNA synthesis by cytarabine substitution resulting from destabilization of the DNA:DNA duplex portion of Okazaki fragments in vivo .     

Hydroxyurea-Induced Accumulation of Short Fragments During Polyoma DNA Replication II. Behavior During Incubation of Isolated Nuclei

The synthesis of polyoma DNA was studied in isolated nuclei from hydroxyurea-inhibited 3T6 cells infected with polyoma virus. During incubation of nuclei under conditions suitable for polyoma DNA synthesis in vitro, the short DNA fragments with a sedimentation coefficient of 4S formed in vivo (hydroxyurea fragments) became associated with preformed, replicating DNA strands. Centrifugation in dye-buoyant density gradients showed that the fragments formed part of the structure of the replicative intermediate of polyoma DNA. The proportion of "young" replicative intermediates was larger after hydroxyurea inhibition than in uninhibited controls. Hydroxyurea fragments appear to be closely related to the 4S fragments formed as normal intermediates during discontinuous synthesis of polyoma DNA.     

Methylation of newly synthesized DNA in mouse fibroblast culture]

After a 10 min- or more prolonged incubation of transformed mouse fibroblasts (L.-cells) with [3H]-thymidine or [3H-methyl]-methionine and a subsequent centrifugation of cell lysates in an alkaline sucrose gradient the DNA radioactivity is detected in long (28, 33 and 45S) and short (5, 13 and 18S) fragments. An increase in cell concentration in the cultural layer results in inhibition of 5S fragments linkage rather than in inhibition of their synthesis. The blocking of the Okazaki fragment linkage may be regarded as one of the inhibitory molecular mechanisms of cell depletion. Both in the case of normal and suppressed (by 99%) replication by arabofuranosylcytosine [3H]-thymidine and [3H-5-methyl] cytosine are detected in the Okazaki fragments (5S) as well as in some discrete lower molecular weight fractions (lesser than 5S) of newly synthesized DNA. Thus, replicative methylation of DNA in the fibroblasts occurs in the replicative fork during DNA synthesis and the functioning DNA methylase is an indispensable component of the replicative complex. The methylation of Okazaki fragments is non-chaotic and has a specificity other than that of total DNA. This may be due to the multiplicity and different specificity of nuclear DNA-methylases. Thus, there exist in animal cells replicative and post-replicative methylation of DNA, which may differ in the nature of substrates and enzymes, in specificity of recognizable sequences and in their functional significanse.     

Analysis of the Okazaki fragment distributions along single long DNAs replicated by the bacteriophage T4 proteins

Rolling circle replication from M13 DNA circles was previously reconstituted in vitro using purified factors encoded by bacteriophage T4. The products are duplex circles with linear tails >100 kb. When T4 DNA polymerase deficient in 3' to 5' exonuclease activity was employed, electron microscopy revealed short single-stranded DNA "flaps" along the replicated tails. This marked the beginning of each Okazaki fragment, allowing an analysis of the lengths of sequential Okazaki fragments on individual replicating molecules. DNAs containing runs of Okazaki fragments of similar length were found, but most showed large length variations over runs of six or more fragments reflecting the broad population distribution.     

Effects of VM26 (teniposide), a specific inhibitor of type II DNA topoisomerase, on SV40 DNA replication in vivo.

Simian Virus 40 (SV40) infected cells were pulse labeled with (3H) thymidine and chased either in the absence or in the presence of the cytotoxic drug VM26 (teniposide). We investigated the structure of labeled SV40 DNA and found that VM26 had no significant effect on replicative chain elongation but strongly inhibited the conversion of late replication intermediates to mature DNA daughter molecules. The late replicative SV40 DNA intermediates which accumulate in VM26 treated cells contained essentially full length labeled DNA strands. These newly synthesized strands were not part of two catenated interlocked SV40 monomers suggesting that the block occurred prior to the final ligation reaction. Since VM26 is known to be a specific inhibitor of DNA topoisomerase II we conclude that this enzyme is dispensable for the chain elongation of replicating SV40 DNA, but that it is essential for the termination of SV40 DNA replication cycles.     

Replication of polyoma DNA in isolated nuclei: analysis of replication fork movement.

The movement of replication forks during polyoma DNA synthesis in isolated nuclei was analyzed by digesting newly synthesized DNA with the restriction endonuclease HpaII which cleaves polyoma DNA into eight unique fragments. The terminus of in vitro DNA synthesis was identified by cleaving newly completed molecules with HpaII. The distribution of label in the restriction fragments showed that the in vitro DNA synthesis was bidirectional and had the normal terminus of replication. Analysis of replicative intermediates pulse-labeled in vitro further suggested that DNA synthesis in isolated nuclei is an ordered process similar to replication in intact cells. Replication forks moved with a constant rate from the origin towards the terminus of replication. The nonlinear course of the DNA synthesis reaction in the isolated nuclei seems to result from the random inactivation of replication forks rather than a decrease in the rate of fork movement. During the in vitro synthesis a replication fork could maximally synthesize a DNA chain about 1,000 nucleotides long. The results suggest that some replication forks might be initiated in vitro at the origin of replication.     

Roles of DNA polymerase I in leading and lagging-strand replication defined by a high-resolution mutation footprint of ColE1 plasmid replication

DNA polymerase I (pol I) processes RNA primers during lagging-strand synthesis and fills small gaps during DNA repair reactions. However, it is unclear how pol I and pol III work together during replication and repair or how extensive pol I processing of Okazaki fragments is in vivo. Here, we address these questions by analyzing pol I mutations generated through error-prone replication of ColE1 plasmids. The data were obtained by direct sequencing, allowing an accurate determination of the mutation spectrum and distribution. Pol I’s mutational footprint suggests: (i) during leading-strand replication pol I is gradually replaced by pol III over at least 1.3 kb; (ii) pol I processing of Okazaki fragments is limited to ∼20 nt and (iii) the size of Okazaki fragments is short (∼250 nt). While based on ColE1 plasmid replication, our findings are likely relevant to other pol I replicative processes such as chromosomal replication and DNA repair, which differ from ColE1 replication mostly at the recruitment steps. This mutation footprinting approach should help establish the role of other prokaryotic or eukaryotic polymerases in vivo, and provides a tool to investigate how sequence topology, DNA damage, or interactions with protein partners may affect the function of individual DNA polymerases.     

Okazaki pieces grow opposite to the replication fork direction during simian virus 40 DNA replication.

Simian virus 40 replicating DNA was pulse labeled with alpha-32P-dATP using an acellular DNA replication system. Nascent DNA chains of less than 200 nucleotides (Okazaki pieces) were then isolated from the denatured replicating DNA by electrosieving through a polyacrylamide gel column. The purified Okazaki pieces were hybridized to separated strands of Bg1(1)+Hpa1 simian virus 40 DNA restriction fragments immobilized on nitrocellulose filters. Only strands with polarity of the DNA replication fork direction hybridized with Okazaki pieces. Hence, Okazaki pieces in simian virus 40 are synthesized against the DNA replication fork direction.     

Replication of polyoma DNA in isolated nuclei. V. Complementation of in vitro DNA replication.

Nuclei from polyoma-infected 3T6 fibroblasts elongate in vitro the progeny strands of the replicative intermediates of polyoma DNA. When high concentrations of such nuclei were incubated, short DNA fragments were formed and subsequently added onto growing progeny strands. When nuclei were repeatedly washed with buffer containing detergent and then incubated at low concentrations. DNA synthesis was decreased. In particular, the joining process was reduced, resulting in an accumulation of short DNA fragments. All aspects of the synthetic capacity of the nuclei were restored by addition of cytoplasmic extract. Additions of purified enzymes (polynucleotide ligase from calf thymus or Escherichia coli together with E. coli DNA polymerase I) increased the joining function of the nuclei. The system can be used for the identification of the enzymatic steps concerned with polyoma DNA replication.     

Late replicative intermediates are accumulated during simian virus 40 DNA replication in vivo and in vitro.

Simian virus 40 (SV40) replicating chromosomes were extracted from nuclei of infected cells. The chromosomes in the extract were resolved on neutral sucrose gradients, and the extent of replication of the DNA in the chromosome peaks was determined. The extract, in combination with cytosol factors and the appropriate precursors, supports the continued replication of viral DNA. The products of the incubation were mature form I DNA and molecules (after deproteinization) with sedimentation coefficients, in neutral sucrose, of 22S and 29S. The results of our analysis of this system indicate the following. (i) The 22S molecule, which has been described by previous workers, is a relaxed, replicating molecule and is an artifact of the in vitro system. (ii) When the in vitro synthesis is performed at optimal ionic strength (150 mM potassium acetate), the artifactual 22S molecule does not appear. (iii) Late replicative intermediates do accumulate in vivo and in vitro. The major late form accumulated is 91% completed. (iv) The replicating chromosomes can be resolved into two distinct peaks on neutral sucrose gradients. The molecules in these peaks differ in extent of replication. (v) The nuclear extraction procedure preferentially extracts early replicating chromosomes. The relevance of these data to the problem of SV40 and cellular chromosome replication and termination is described.     

Molecular analysis of enhanced replication of UV-damaged simian virus 40 DNA in UV-treated mammalian cells.

Irradiation of simian virus 40 (SV40)-infected cells with low fluences of UV light (20 to 60 J/m2, inducing one to three pyrimidine dimers per SV40 genome) causes a dramatic inhibition of viral DNA replication. However, treatment of cells with UV radiation (20 J/m2) before infection with SV40 virus enhances the replication of UV-damaged viral DNA. To investigate the mechanism of this enhancement of replication, we analyzed the kinetics of synthesis and interconversion of viral replicative intermediates synthesized after UV irradiation of SV40-infected cells that had been pretreated with UV radiation. This enhancement did not appear to be due to an expansion of the size of the pool of replicative intermediates after irradiation of pretreated infected cells; the kinetics of incorporation of labeled thymidine into replicative intermediates were very similar after irradiation of infected control and pretreated cells. The major products of replication of SV40 DNA after UV irradiation at the low UV fluences used here were form II molecules with single-stranded gaps (relaxed circular intermediates). There did not appear to be a change in the proportion of these molecules synthesized when cells were pretreated with UV radiation. Thus, it is unlikely that a substantial amount of DNA synthesis occurs past pyrimidine dimers without leaving gaps. This conclusion is supported by the observation that the proportion of newly synthesized SV40 form I molecules that contain pyrimidine dimers was not increased in pretreated cells. Pulse-chase experiments suggested that there is a more efficient conversion of replicative intermediates into form I molecules in pretreated cells. This could be due to more efficient gap filling in relaxed circular intermediate molecules or to the release of blocked replication forks. Alternatively, the enhanced replication observed here may be due to an increase in the excision repair capacity of the pretreated cells.     

Ficellomycin and feldamycin; inhibitors of bacterial semiconservative DNA replication.

The two peptide-like antibiotics ficellomycin and feldamycin impair semiconservative DNA replication but not DNA repair synthesis in bacteria. Specifically both antibiotics cause the accumulation of a 34S DNA species in toluenized Escherichia coli cells which lacks the capability of being integrated into larger DNA pieces and eventually the complete bacterial chromosome. Novobiocin, a known inhibitor of replicative DNA synthesis, was investigated for comparative purposes. The action of this latter antibiotic differs from the ones exerted by ficellomycin and feldamycin in the novobiocin appears to block an event associated with the initiation of Okazaki fragments. The fact that novobiocin impairs DNA gyrase suggests that this enzyme plays an essential role during the initiation of Okazaki pieces.