Bioinformaticians from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) and the university in Linköping (Sweden) have established that the genes in bacterial genomes are arranged in a meaningful order. In the renowned scientific journal Science, they describe that the genes are arranged by function: If they become increasingly important at faster growth, they are located near the origin of DNA replication. Accordingly, their position influences how their activity changes with the growth rate.
It’s not so much about nuclear envelope and more about ends. DNA polymerase (an enzyme that builds new DNA) cannot copy the whole end - there are a few bases that should be at the end but cannot be added. Eukaryota deal with it by a complex mechanism (they have telomeres), but it allows for multiple chromosomes and therefore larger genomes. Bacteria have a circular genome instead, a circle doesn’t have an end, so they can copy as much as they need.
BTW, mitochondria and plastids, being former bacteria, also have circular genomes.
This was very cool to learn
Right! I’ve also always been blown away knowing their DNA is circular. Probably since they don’t have a nucleus, but not totally sure.
It’s not so much about nuclear envelope and more about ends. DNA polymerase (an enzyme that builds new DNA) cannot copy the whole end - there are a few bases that should be at the end but cannot be added. Eukaryota deal with it by a complex mechanism (they have telomeres), but it allows for multiple chromosomes and therefore larger genomes. Bacteria have a circular genome instead, a circle doesn’t have an end, so they can copy as much as they need.
BTW, mitochondria and plastids, being former bacteria, also have circular genomes.