Physical Basis for the Loading of a Bacterial Replicative Helicase onto DNA (Molecular Cell)

Arias-Palomo et al. present the cryo-EM structures of a replicative bacterial helicase-loader complex (E. coli DnaBC) in pre- and post-loading states, revealing how the loader breaks the helicase ring to deposit it at the origin of replication and how ssDNA engagement closes and activates the helicase.