DNA replication is an essential process for the propagation of life on this planet. Steve Bell’s lab has been studying this process in the hyperthermophilic microrganisms of the archaeal domain of life. Remarkably, much of the archaeal DNA replication machinery is closely related to that found in human cells. In a new Nature Communications publication from Bell’s lab, work from graduate student Rajkumar Dhanaraju and colleagues describes a novel factor, termed UBP, that interacts with the start sites of DNA replication. Through a combination of genetic, structural biochemistry and -omics approaches, the team established the role that UBP plays in replication initiation and also reveal that the factor has additional roles in helping program the gene expression profile of the organism. 

Link to paper: An archaeal nucleoid-associated protein binds an essential motif in DNA replication origins