AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Short fragments of RNA serve as primers that can be extended by DNA polymerase. To form a continuous lagging strand of DNA, the RNA primers must eventually be removed from the Okazaki fragments and replaced with DNA.

Detailed explanation-2: -In living organisms, primers are short strands of RNA. A primer must be synthesized by an enzyme called primase, which is a type of RNA polymerase, before DNA replication can occur.

Detailed explanation-3: -An RNA primer is a short segment of single-stranded RNA used as a binding site for DNA polymerase to initiate DNA replication. DNA polymerase is only able to add nucleotides to an existing nucleotide chain; it cannot “start from scratch, ” and therefore needs the RNA primer to start the process.

Detailed explanation-4: -RNA primers for DNA replication are usually synthesized by specialized enzymes, the primases. However, some replication systems have evolved to use cellular DNA-dependent RNA polymerase for primer synthesis.

Detailed explanation-5: -RNA primers are key to initiating DNA synthesis. They provide the initiation sequence necessary for DNA polymerase to synthesize new strands. The RNA primer is introduced at the template DNA site by primase enzyme on both the leading and lagging strands.