Final answer:
Single-Strand Binding proteins (SSBs) bind to single-stranded DNA in a non-enzymatic fashion, stabilizing it during replication and preventing it from re-annealing. They are part of the primosome complex and help in maintaining strand separation and relieving supercoiling.
Step-by-step explanation:
SSBSSB is a 74 kDa tetramer protein that binds single-strand DNA in a non-enzymatic fashion. This protein does not synthesize DNA, it only stabilizes the single-strand form of DNA. These single-strand binding proteins (SSBs) are essential during DNA replication because they bind to single-stranded DNA and prevent hydrogen bonding between DNA strands, which would result in the reformation of double-stranded DNA.
SSBs are part of the primosome complex that facilitates the initiation and elongation during DNA replication. In particular, these proteins are involved in stabilizing the unwound DNA at the replication fork, allowing the synthesizing enzymes like DNA polymerase to efficiently replicate the genome. By binding to the ssDNA, they also prevent the DNA from becoming supercoiled and relax negative supercoils, which can occur due to the unwinding process.
During the final stages of DNA replication, once both strands are completely replicated, the SSBs are released, allowing the single strands to rewind and form the new double helical structure.