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. 2016 Feb 15;7:10660. doi: 10.1038/ncomms10660

Figure 2. ESCs display massive accumulation of ssDNA gaps, reduced fork speed and frequent fork reversal.

Figure 2

(a,c) Electron micrographs of representative replication forks from ESCs, with indicated parental (P) and daughter (D) duplexes. White arrows indicate ssDNA gaps; black arrow points to the regressed arm (R) of a reversed fork. Insets: (a), a magnified ssDNA gap; (c), the four-way junction at the reversed fork. Scale bar, 500 bp (=217 nm), 200 bp in inset. (b) Frequency of replication forks isolated from ESCs and differentiating ESCs (ESC-d) with the indicated number of ssDNA gaps. (d) Frequency of reversed replication forks isolated from ESC and ESC-d. The number of replication intermediates analysed is indicated in parentheses. Similar results were obtained in an independent experiment. (e) DNA fibre spreading of ESC, ESC-d and MEF. CldU/IdU-containing tracts were immunostained in red and green, respectively. Two representative fibres are shown for ESCs and ‘Differ. ESCs'. The IdU replicated track length was computed using Mann–Whitney test.