Visualising chromatin replication one molecule at a time

Dr Hasan Yardimci, The Francis Crick Institute, London
4 May 2022, 1.00pm, Microsoft Teams

Accurate DNA replication is performed by the multi-protein replisome complex and is tightly regulated in eukaryotic cells to ensure genome stability. A major focus of our group is to elucidate how the replisome overcomes nucleoprotein complexes, which is necessary for normal replication fork progression. To gain insight into how the replisome complex deals with natural impediments in a physiologically relevant environment, we study replication in Xenopus laevis egg extracts. Using fluorescently labelled proteins, we are investigating the fate of parental histones, inactive Mcm2-7 complexes, and cohesin complexes upon replication fork collision. The ability to record molecular movies of these encounters with single-molecule sensitivity is providing insight into molecular details that are difficult to gain by ensemble methods.