What is the repair enzyme in DNA replication?
A special enzyme, DNA ligase (shown here in color), encircles the double helix to repair a broken strand of DNA.
What kind of enzyme is Primase?
RNA polymerase
What is the function of topoisomerase II?
Type II topoisomerases are topoisomerases that cut both strands of the DNA helix simultaneously in order to manage DNA tangles and supercoils. They use the hydrolysis of ATP, unlike Type I topoisomerase. In this process, these enzymes change the linking number of circular DNA by ±2.
Why is Supercoiling bad?
With the exception of extreme thermophiles, supercoiling has a negative sign, which means that the torsional tension diminishes the DNA helicity and facilitates strand separation.
How do topoisomerases work?
Topoisomerase I is a ubiquitous enzyme whose function in vivo is to relieve the torsional strain in DNA, specifically to remove positive supercoils generated in front of the replication fork and to relieve negative supercoils occurring downstream of RNA polymerase during transcription.
What happens if topoisomerase is not functional?
In cells lacking the activity of topoisomerase I the chromosomal DNA becomes hypernegatively supercoiled, especially behind transcribing RNAP complexes. DNA gyrase will remove the positive torsional stress in front of RNAP, whereas the negative supercoils will persist if they cannot be relaxed by Topo I.
Why can’t DNA replication occur without topoisomerase?
Summary of DNA replication in E. Helicase unwinds the helix, and single-strand binding proteins prevent the helix from re-forming. Topoisomerase prevents the DNA from getting too tightly coiled ahead of the replication fork. On the leading strand, DNA synthesis occurs continuously.
What is the end result of DNA replication?
The result of DNA replication is two DNA molecules consisting of one new and one old chain of nucleotides. This is why DNA replication is described as semi-conservative, half of the chain is part of the original DNA molecule, half is brand new.