LAUSR

In the metazoan S phase, coordinated firing of clusters of origins replicates different parts of the genome in a temporal program. Despite advances, neither the mechanism controlling timing nor that coordinating firing of multiple origins is fully understood. Rif1, an evolutionarily conserved inhibitor of DNA replication, recruits protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) and counteracts firing of origins by S-phase kinases. During the mid-blastula transition (MBT) in Drosophila embryos, Rif1 forms subnuclear hubs at each of the large blocks of satellite sequences and delays their replication. Each Rif1 hub disperses abruptly just prior to the replication of the associated satellite sequences. Here, we show that the level of activity of the S-phase kinase, DDK, accelerated this dispersal program, and that the level of Rif1-recruited PP1 retarded it. Further, Rif1-recruited PP1 supported chromatin association of nearby Rif1. This influence of nearby Rif1 can create a “community effect” counteracting kinase-induced dissociation such that an entire hub of Rif1 undergoes switch-like dispersal at characteristic times that shift in response to the balance of Rif1-PP1 and DDK activities. We propose a model in which the spatiotemporal program of late replication in the MBT embryo is controlled by self-stabilizing Rif1-PP1 hubs, whose abrupt dispersal synchronizes firing of associated late origins. SIGNIFICANCE Seventy years ago, it was discovered that large domains of the eukaryotic genome replicate at different times. Detailed descriptions left significant questions unresolved. How are the many origins in the large domains coordinated to fire in unison? What distinguishes different domains and gives rise to a temporal program? When Drosophila embryos first establish late replication, an inhibitor of DNA replication, Rif1, forms hubs over domains of late replicating DNA. Rif1 recruits protein phosphatase 1 (PP1), which prevents kinases from dispersing Rif1 hubs or activating associated origins. When kinase activity eventually exceeds a hub-specific threshold, the self-stabilization of Rif1-PP1 breaks down, hubs disperse abruptly, and all associated origins are free to initiate.