Prokaryotic and Mitochondrial Linear Genomes: Their Genesis, Evolutionary Significance, and the Problem of Replicating Chromosome Ends

Abstract

Bacterial chromosomes are widely thought of as circular DNA molecules. However, linear bacterial chromosomes, as well as linear mitochondrial and plastid chromosomes, are fairly common. The most frequent causes of linearization are reparation system defects, incorporation of plasmids in the genome, and recombination compromising the circular topology of chromosomes. Genomes of some bacterial species had undergone frequent linearization–circularization events, which resulted in an increased variability of gene content at linear chromosome ends. Similarly to eukaryotes, bacteria that have linear genomes face the problem of end replication, which different species solve in a variety of ways. A theoretically important issue is the adaptive value of chromosome linearization. This review discusses theories concerning the evolution of linear genomes and supporting experiments. The most common mechanisms of linear bacterial genomes replication and possible ways of their emergence are also considered.