Final answer:
The enzyme delta likely refers to DNA Polymerase III, which is critical for prokaryotic DNA replication, removing RNA primers with exonuclease activity, and adding nucleotides predominantly in the 5' to 3' direction.
Step-by-step explanation:
The enzyme delta referred to in the question is likely DNA Polymerase III, particularly addressing its function during DNA replication in prokaryotes. This enzyme plays a crucial role in prokaryotic DNA replication. Its exonuclease activity is essential for removing the RNA primer, which is initially laid down for DNA synthesis to begin, and then replacing it with newly synthesized DNA. DNA Polymerase III also adds nucleotides in the 5'-3' direction, which is critical for elongating the new DNA strand. It's important to note that the 3' to 5' exonuclease activity also serves as a proofreading function to ensure the accuracy of DNA replication.
When considering enzyme functions in eukaryotic cells, terms like 'exon' are used to describe the protein-coding sequences of genes that remain after the introns (non-coding sequences) are spliced out of pre-mRNA. However, RNA polymerases in eukaryotes do not have exonuclease activity to remove RNA primers as DNA polymerases do, since eukaryotic RNA polymerases are involved in transcription, not DNA replication.