AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Complete answer: The enzyme which is used to unwind DNA is the DNA helicase enzyme, which belongs to the class Helicase and is important for all the organisms.

Detailed explanation-2: -DNA Helicase and Its Function in Replication DNA helicase is an enzyme that unwinds the DNA double helix by breaking the hydrogen bonds between the complementary bases.

Detailed explanation-3: -In this paper, we study the mechanism of DNA unwinding by bacteriophage T7 helicase that is involved in DNA replication. During replication, the helicase has to unwind a long stretch of DNA, and that requires the helicase to couple strand-separation activity to translocation.

Detailed explanation-4: -DNA helicases catalyze the disruption of the hydrogen bonds that hold the two strands of double-stranded DNA together. This energy-requiring unwinding reaction results in the formation of the single-stranded DNA required as a template or reaction intermediate in DNA replication, repair and recombination.

Detailed explanation-5: -Key enzyme involved in DNA replication, it is responsible for ‘unzipping’ the double helix structure by breaking the hydrogen bonds between bases on opposite strands of the DNA molecule.