Termination of DNA replication forks takes place when two replication forks coming from neighbouring origins meet each other usually in the midpoint of the replicon. At this stage, the remaining fragments of DNA have to be unwound, all remaining DNA replicated and newly synthesised strands ligated to produce continuous sister chromatids. Finally, the replication machinery has to be taken off, chromatin re-assembled, and entwisted sister chromatids resolved topologically.Over the last few decades, we have learned a lot about the assembly of the helicase and replisome and the initiation stage of DNA replication. We also know much more about the ability of forks to cope with replication stress. However, only within recent years we have gained the first glimpse of the mechanism of replication fork termination. In this chapter I will summarise the recent findings on replication termination, weigh this against the past literature and discuss relevant consequences and views for the future.
Keywords: Cdc48 p97 segregase; Cullins; Eukaryotic DNA replication; Termination of DNA replication; Ubiquitin.