Question

The overall rate of eukaryotic DNA replication is essentially the same as it is in prokaryotes, even though eukaryotic genomes are hundreds to thousands of times bigger than their prokaryotic counterparts. Which of the following statements could account for this observation?

Options:
A. Eukaryotes have more origins of replication.
B. Prokaryotes have faster DNA polymerases.
C. Eukaryotic replication is unidirectional.
D. Prokaryotes lack DNA primase.

Answer 1

The overall rate of eukaryotic DNA replication is similar to that of prokaryotes because eukaryotes have multiple origins of replication facilitating simultaneous replication throughout their larger genomes.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question asks to identify the reason why the overall rate of eukaryotic DNA replication is essentially the same as it is in prokaryotes, despite eukaryotic genomes being much larger. The correct statement accounting for this observation is that eukaryotes have more origins of replication.

To provide further clarification, prokaryotes typically have a single origin of replication and a faster replication process, achieving approximately 1000 nucleotides per second. Conversely, eukaryotic replication is around 100 nucleotides per second, but this is offset by the presence of 30,000 to 50,000 origins of replication in a human genome, for example.