Speed of replication fork

Range E. coli 60: Human 2-3 kb/min
Organism Various
Reference Méchali M. Eukaryotic DNA replication origins: many choices for appropriate answers. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2010 Oct11(10):728-38. doi: 10.1038/nrm2976. p.728 left column 2nd paragraphPubMed ID20861881
Comments p.728 left column 2nd paragraph:"To be duplicated, a DNA double helix must open to allow the DNA synthesis machinery to copy each DNA strand. These opening sites, called replication origins, are recognized by specific proteins, and DNA synthesis progresses from these sites in a bidirectional manner (Fig. 1a). In Escherichia coli, DNA replication starts from a single, sequence-specific element, and the speed of the two replication forks (60 kb/min) keeps pace with a rapid cell cycle (less than 30 min). The human genome is 700-fold larger than the E. coli genome, but the replication fork speed is 20-fold slower (2–3 kb/min). Thus, it would take at least 20 days to achieve a single division if there was one origin per chromosome."
Entered by Uri M
ID 111770