Cycle-specific replication of chromosomal and F-plasmid origins

Abstract

There have been various proposals for the pattern of F-plasmid replication during the division cycle. Here we show that the recent studies of Gordon et al. (Cell 90, 1113–1121, 1997) on the duplication and segregation of green fluorescent protein (GFP) labeled replication origins of the Escherichia coli chromosome and the F plasmid during the division cycle support the proposal that the F plasmid replicates with a cell-cycle-specific (artiocyclic) pattern.