Any process in which a new genotype is formed by reassortment of genes resulting in gene combinations different from those that were present in the parents. In eukaryotes genetic recombination can occur by chromosome assortment, intrachromosomal recombination, or nonreciprocal interchromosomal recombination. Interchromosomal recombination occurs by crossing over. In bacteria it may occur by genetic transformation, conjugation, transduction, or F-duction.

The cell cycle process in which paired chromosomes are detached from each other. Chromosome separation begins with the release of cohesin complexes from chromosomes; in budding yeast, this includes the cleavage of cohesin complexes along the chromosome arms, followed by the separation of the centromeric regions. Chromosome separation also includes formation of chromatid axes mediated by condensins, and ends with the disentangling of inter-sister catenation catalyzed by topoisomerase II (topo II).

The process in which a transformation is induced in the topological structure of a double-stranded DNA helix, resulting in a change in linking number.

The cellular metabolic process in which a cell duplicates one or more molecules of DNA. DNA replication begins when specific sequences, known as origins of replication, are recognized and bound by initiation proteins, and ends when the original DNA molecule has been completely duplicated and the copies topologically separated. The unit of replication usually corresponds to the genome of the cell, an organelle, or a virus. The template for replication can either be an existing DNA molecule or RNA.

The process in which interchain hydrogen bonds between two strands of DNA are broken or 'melted', generating unpaired template strands for DNA replication.