Detection and sequencing of okazaki fragments in S. cerevisiae

Abstract

We have previously demonstrated that lagging-strand synthesis in budding yeast is coupled with chromatin assembly on newly synthesized DNA. Using a strain of S. cerevisiae in which DNA ligase I can be conditionally depleted, we can enrich and purify Okazaki fragments. We delineate a method to extract, end label, and visualize Okazaki fragments using denaturing agarose gel electrophoresis. Furthermore, we describe an ion-exchange chromatographic method for purification of fragments and preparation of strand-specific sequencing libraries. Deep sequencing of Okazaki fragments generates a comprehensive, genomic map of DNA synthesis, starting from a single asynchronous culture. Altogether this approach represents a tractable system to investigate key aspects of DNA replication and chromatin assembly.