Final answer:
The replication fork requires helicase, single-strand binding proteins, topoisomerase, primase, and DNA polymerase to replicate DNA efficiently.
Step-by-step explanation:
An active replication fork requires five critical components to effectively replicate DNA. These components are:
- Helicase, which unwinds the double-stranded DNA to form the Y-shaped replication forks.
- Single-strand binding proteins that stabilize the unwound DNA by preventing it from reannealing into a double helix.
- Topoisomerase, which relieves the stress of unwinding by preventing supercoiling ahead of the replication fork.
- Primase, which synthesizes short RNA primers complementary to the DNA strand to provide a starting point for nucleotide addition.
- DNA Polymerase, which adds nucleotides to the 3'-OH end of the primer and is responsible for elongating both the leading and the lagging DNA strands.
The interplay of these components is crucial for semi-conservative replication, where each new DNA molecule consists of one original and one new strand.