User:Neurolepsis/Xer recombination system

Xer recombination system

In Escherichia coli and in most bacteria with circular chromosomes, the Xer recombination system is used to separate chromosome dimers, in which two newly replicated circular daughter DNA chromosomes are joined end-to-end to create a double length circle of DNA. Without being resolved, these dimers would prevent chromosome segregation during cell division.

Xer systems utilize site-specific recombinases and are composed of two proteins - XerC and XerD - and a specific site (locus) in the chromosome, called dif (deletion-induced filamentation). dif is located in the termination