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What are the differences between linear and circular DNA?
Posted March 25, 2022
Answer
Linear and circular DNA are two types of DNA with different structures. Both forms are widely used in molecular biological and genetic engineering studies. While they have a number of similarities between them, there are also several differences.
| Basis of Differentiation | Linear DNA | Circular DNA |
| Structure | Has an open conformation with two free ends, one on each side of the DNA molecule | Has a closed conformation with no ends |
| DNA Size | Large | Small |
| Occurrence | Occurs exclusively inside the nucleus | Occurs in the cytoplasm or inside organelles |
| Organization | Undergoes tight coiling and dense packing inside the nucleus | Does not undergo packing |
| Type of Organisms | Found in the nucleus of eukaryotes | Found in prokaryotes and also in mitochondrial and chloroplast DNA |
| Presence/Absence of Telomeres | Contains telomeres | Does not contain telomeres |
| Ease of Transcirption | Presence of linear chromosomes makes it easy to under transcription | Difficult to transcribe because of torsion strain that occurs during DNA unwinding |
| End Replication Problems | Has to face end replication problems | Does not undergo end replication problem due to their circular shape |
| Replication | Is a complex process with multiple origins of replication | Is a simple process with a single origin of replication and unidirectional manner |
| Occurrence in Plasmids | Some plasmids are linear | Supercoiled plasmid DNA is circular |
Additional resources
Portelite™ Fluorimetric DNA Quantitation Kit with Broad Dynamic Range