“…Reduction of chromosome replication overlaps, with the associated lowering of the ori/ter ratio, together with an increased replication rate, have been also found in strains containing different defective dnaA alleles, such as dnaA204 (Torheim et al, 2001), dnaA46, dnaA174, and dnaA345 (Gon et al, 2006;Morigen et al, 2009), as well as in wild type cells containing extra copies of datA sequence which is believed to reduce the availability of DnaA protein (Morigen et al, 2003). Similar results have also been obtained in studies of hns (Atlung & Hansen, 2002) and ihf mutants (von Freiesleben et al, 2000). Additionally, we have also shown by growing the nrdA101 mutant in poor media at 30ºC, that the improvement in the replication fork progression is accompanied by a decrease in replication overlap.The correlation between these effects has been well established but the mechanism remains elusive.…”