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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of DNA Replication in Yeast

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For the past two decades, the study of the mechanism of DNA replication has been focused mainly on the chromosomes of the simple prokaryotes and their viruses (1). The complexity of the eukaryotic genome and multiple levels of control during the replication of eukaryotic chromosomes have until recently prevented similar studies. In recent years, a lower eukaryote, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, has become a major focus of efforts in molecular biology. In this chapter, I will briefly review accomplishments in this area. Yeast is an ideal model system for studies on the structure and replication of the eukaryotic chromosome. Yeast cells are easy to grow and study biochemically. Genetic analysis of S. cerevisiae has reached a more advanced stage of sophistication than in other eukaryotic systems. The availability in yeast of defined mutants defective in progression through the cell division cycle is a particular advantage for studying detailed replication mechanism (for comprehensive treatments see references 2 and 3). Application of recombinant DNA methodology and yeast DNA transformation techniques have provided important new tools for analyzing DNA structure and function in yeast cells (for reviews see references 4 and 5).