Replicon

In genetics, a replicon is a section of DNA or RNA that is replicated in one piece , starting from an origin of replication. Since eukaryotes the transcription because of parallel DNA repair is slower than in prokaryotes, they need much more origins of replication. As a result, there are also several replicons on which replication runs almost simultaneously.

In most cases in prokaryotes , each plasmid is a replicon. Since there is only one origin of replication, the entire plasmid is replicated when replication starts. There are exceptions to this for some bacteria and archaea .

literature

• Garabed Antranikian: Applied Microbiology. Springer-Verlag, 2005, ISBN 978-3-540-29456-6 , p. 77.
• James D. Watson : Molecular Biology. Pearson Deutschland GmbH, 2011, ISBN 978-3-868-94029-9 , p. 266.