Replication mammalian genomes

C. Conservation of Replication-Associated Strand Asymmetries in Mammalian Genomes... 

For more details on the existence and modehng of replication associated strand asymmetries in mammalian genomes, we refer the reader to the Ph.D. thesis manuscripts of E. B. Brodie of Brodie [96], S. Nicolay [97], and M. Touchon [109]. 

However, the implications of this compaction are profound. It is absolutely essential to condense the mammalian genome, which in an extended linear form more than 1 m long, to a volume which can be accommodated in the nuclear volume of 10-30 femtoliters. At the same time, the genes will be buried in condensed chromatin, and yet their specific sequences need to be exposed for various processes of information transfer. Thus, for both transcription and replication, the chromatin has to be decondensed. This was evident in early in vitro studies which showed that both these processes are severely inhibited when DNA is complexed with histones. 

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