DNA Replication and Telomeres Flashcards
What direction is DNA replication?
bi-directionally away from origins
Where is the DNA double-helix opened?
at the origin of replication and unwound to form replication forks
What are exposed at replication forks?
single stranded DNA is exposed and DNA synthesis can occur
What are the continuous and discontinuous strands called?
the leading strand and lagging strand
What is the function of helicase?
begins bi-directional DNA unwinding creating two forks
What does DNA polymerase need?
a primer
What is DNA primase?
a specialized RNA polymerase that synthesizes RNA primers for DNA replication
Does RNA polymerase need primers?
do not need primers to begin RNA synthesis (same as transcription)
What is a primer?
a short (<10 base) RNA strand complementary to the template
What are the three steps of DNA replication?
- sliding clamp is recruited to primer
- DNA polymerase is recruited to sliding clamp
- All DNA synthesis occurs in 5’ to 3’ direction
What are Okazaki fragments?
nascent lagging strands (~0.2 kb in eukaryotes/ ~2kb in prokaryotes)
When does termination occur?
when two different forks meet, when the fork reaches the end of a linear chromosome, or when polymerase meets the previously replicated strand (as above)
What happens to RNA primers after termination?
removed and replaced with DNA
What are the main polymerases in DNA replication for bacteria?
polymerase III
What are the main polymerases in DNA replication for eukaryotes?
polymerase δ and ε
What is proofreading?
polymerases are highly conserved and composed of multiple subunits that have different functions
What is processivity?
DNA polymerases attach to DNA for long stretched before dissociation
After each nucleotide is added, DNA polymerase has the potential to _
fall off the DNA
What is proccessive synthesis?
replicative polymerases stay attached for many 1000s of nucleotides
What is distributive synthesis?
DNA polymerases involved in repair, only add a few nucleotides before falling off
What is tautomerization?
the isomerization of each base between its tautomeric forms
What causes improper incorporation?
the less common tautomer can pair with the wrong bases
What happens to misshapen DNA?
moves from the polymerase active site to a second enzymatic site on the protein that contains 3’ to 5’ exonuclease
What is the function of proofreading exonuclease?
removes the termine 3’ ase, thus restoring the correct geometry of the primer-template junction, which can move back to the polymerase site