Replication (redirected from replications)

replication

In database management, the ability to keep distributed databases synchronized by routinely copying the entire database or subsets of the database to other servers in the network.

There are various replication methods. Primary site replication maintains the master copy of the data in one site and sends read-only copies to the other sites. In a workflow environment, the master copy can move from one site to another. This is called "shared replication" or "transferred ownership replication." In symmetric replication, also called "update-anywhere" or "peer-to-peer replication," each site can receive updates, and all other sites are then updated. Failover replication, or hot backup, maintains an up-to-date copy of the data at a different site for backup. See mirroring, disaster recovery and distributed database.

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replication [‚rep·lə′kā·shən]

(analytical chemistry)

The formation of a faithful mold or replica of a solid that is thin enough for penetration by an electron microscope beam; can use plastic (such as collodion) or vacuum deposition (such as of carbon or metals) to make the mold.

(cell and molecular biology)

Duplication, as of a nucleic acid, by copying from a molecular template.

(statistics)

In experimental design, the repetition of an experiment or parts of an experiment to secure more data as an aid to determining the experimental error and to arrive at better estimates of the effects of various treatments with smaller standard errors.

(virology)

Multiplication of phage in a bacterial cell.

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(database, networking)

replication - Creating and maintaining a duplicate copy of a database or file system on a different computer, typically a server. The term usually implies the intelligent copying of parts of the source database which have changed since the last replication with the destination. Replication may be one-way or two-way. Two-way replication is much more complicated because of the possibility that a replicated object may have been updated differently in the two locations in which case some method is needed to reconcile the different versions. For example, Lotus Notes can automatically distribute document databases across telecommunications networks. Notes supports a wide range of network protocols including X25 and Internet TCP/IP. Compare mirror. See also rdist.

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Replication 

(also reduplication, autoreproduction, and autosynthesis), the process of the self-reproduction, or self-copying, of nucleic acids, genes, and chromosomes that occurs in all living cells. The mechanism of replication is based on the enzymatic synthesis of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or ribo-nucleic acid (RNA), which occurs in accordance with the matrix principle.

The model of the structure of DNA—the double helix—was proposed in 1953 by J. Watson and F. Crick. This model both explained how genetic information is inscribed in a DNA molecule and made it possible to understand and experimentally study the chemical mechanisms of the duplication of genetic material. The strict specificity of the pairing of nitrogen bases in a DNA molecule is responsible for the complementarity of the sequences of bases in two chains and guarantees the precision of replication. The guanine-cytosine pair is stabilized by three hydrogen bonds, and the adenine-thymine pair is stabilized by two hydrogen bonds, thereby sharply diminishing the probability of the incorrect pairing of bases.

According to Watson and Crick, the process of DNA replication provides for the rupture of hydrogen bonds and the unwinding of the strands of a double helix; it also provides for the synthesis of complementary chains on solitary strands. As a result of DNA replication, two similar molecules arise from a single double-chain DNA molecule. In each daughter molecule there is one polynucleotide chain that is parental and one that is resynthesized (the semiconservative mechanism of replication).

DNA replication is a multistage genetically controlled process in which many enzymes participate, including DNA poly-merase, DNA ligase, and DNA methylase. The replication of DNA having a double chain has a fixed beginning and end and an oriented direction. The noncontinuous synthesis of new chains starts where the complementary chains of the parental DNA unwind (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Structure of the Y-fork proposed by the hypothesis of the noncontinuous replication of DNA

At the beginning of each synthesized segment of a DNA chain there is a priming strand of RNA that consists of 50–100 nucleotides. The fragments of the DNA chains, each containing about 1,000 nucleotides, gradually form on the RNA with the participation of DNA polymerase. The primer RNA is then destroyed by ribonuclease, while the synthesized DNA fragments are combined to form long chains by the enzyme polynu-cleotideligase.

Replication is unique in viruses and bacteriophages that have DNA composed of a single strand. DNA composed of a single chain [the (+)-chain] is introduced into the host cell, after which a complementary chain [the (–)-chain] is synthesized on the (+)-chain serving as a matrix. New single-chain (+)-chains, which form new viral particles, are synthesized on the double-helix molecule that has formed (the replicative form). Viruses and bacteriophages that contain RNA replicate by the same principle. Therefore, in all known cases of replication, DNA and RNA pass through a stage during which molecules have a double chain.

Eucaryotes are higher organisms whose cells contain a formed nucleus. The main genetic function in eucaryotes is performed by complex structures known as chromosomes, which consist of DNA, RNA, proteins, and other substances. The replication of DNA and other chromosomal components occurs during interphase, which precedes cell division. The doubled chromosomes subsequently disjoin and become evenly distributed between daughter cells. Thus, all hereditary information is transmitted relatively unchanged from cell to cell from one generation to the next.

REFERENCES

Watson, J. Molekuliarnaia biologiia gena. Moscow, 1967. (Translated from English.)
Ratner, V. A. Printsipy organizatsii i mekhanizmy molekuliarno-geneticheskikh protsessov. Novosibirsk, 1972.
Bresler, S. E. Molekuliarnaia biologiia. Leningrad, 1973.
Stent, G. Molekuliarnaia genetika. Moscow, 1974. (Translated from English.)

M. M. ASLANIAN