Question

What steps does the cell take to speed the rate of dna replication? (this is middle school science)

Answer 1

To speed up DNA replication, cells use DNA helicase to unwind the DNA helix, DNA polymerase adds nucleotides to the leading strand at a fast pace, and synthesizes Okazaki fragments on the lagging strand to handle the anti-parallel orientation of DNA.

Step-by-step explanation:

Steps the Cell Takes to Speed the Rate of DNA Replication

The process of DNA replication is crucial for cell division, ensuring that each daughter cell receives an identical set of chromosomes. This meticulous process involves several steps that the cell undertakes to enhance the rate of replication:

1. The DNA helix begins to unwind, a step assisted by the enzyme DNA Helicase, which breaks the hydrogen bonds between base pairs.
2. Once the helix is unwound, DNA polymerase begins adding nucleotides to the leading strand in a continuous fashion. The replication fork moves swiftly, adding about 1000 nucleotides per second.
3. However, since DNA strands are anti-parallel and DNA polymerase can only extend in the 5' to 3' direction, a slight complication arises on the lagging strand. This issue is resolved through the synthesis of Okazaki fragments, which are later joined to form a continuous strand.

These steps occur rapidly and with high fidelity, with prokaryotic organisms such as E. coli replicating their entire genome in roughly 42 minutes despite the genome consisting of 4.6 million base pairs.