Question

What are the chemical bonds connecting nucleotides of the DNA strand and which enzyme is responsible for catalyzing this chemical bond formation?

Answer 1

Nucleotides in a DNA strand are connected by phosphodiester bonds, and DNA polymerase is responsible for catalyzing this bond formation.

Step-by-step explanation:

Nucleotides in a DNA strand are connected by phosphodiester bonds between the 5' phosphate group of one nucleotide and the 3' hydroxyl group of another. These bonds form a backbone structure for the DNA strand. The enzyme responsible for catalyzing the formation of these chemical bonds is called DNA polymerase. DNA polymerase recognizes each base in a template strand and matches it to the complementary base in a free nucleotide. It then forms an ester bond between the 5' phosphate group of the nucleotide and the 3' OH end of the new DNA strand.