Toward a General Model for the Evolution of DNA Replication in Three Domains of Life

Nothing is more fundamental to life than the ability to reproduce and duplicate the information cells store in their genomes. The mechanism of duplication of DNA has been conserved from prokaryotes to eukaryotes. The aim of the study was to quantify which evolutionary forces could produce the pattern of genome replication architecture observed in present-day organisms. This was achieved using an evolutionary simulation, combining random genome sequence shuffling, mutation, selection and the mathematical modeling of DNA replication. We have found parameter values which explained evolutionary pressures of DNA replication in E.coli, P.calidifontis and S. cerevisae. Surprisingly, the results of the evolutionary simulation suggests that for a fixed cost per replication origin it is more advantageous for genomes to reduce the number of replication origins under increasing uncertainty in origin activation timing.