why origins of replication in dna are usually at-rich
Origin of replication The genome of E. coli consists of a single circular DNA molecule of approximately 4.6 x 106 nucleotide pairs. DNA replication typically begins at a single origin of replication. In E. coli, the origin of replication—oriC—consists of three A–T rich 13-mer repeats and four 9-mer repeats. Ten to 20 monomers of the replication initiator protein DnaA bind to the 9-mer repeats, and the DNA coils around this protein complex forming a protein core. This coiling stimulates the AT rich region in the 13-mer sequence to unwind, allowing the helicase loader DnaC to load the replicative helicase DnaB to each of the two unwound DNA strands. The helicase DnaB forms the basis of the primosome, a complex of enzymes to which DNA polymerase III is recruited before replication can occur .[8]