AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Primase synthesizes an RNA primer to initiate synthesis by DNA polymerase, which can add nucleotides in only one direction.

Detailed explanation-2: -The enzyme that synthesizes DNA, DNA polymerase, can only add nucleotides to an already existing strand or primer of DNA or RNA that is base paired with the template. An enzyme, DNA polymerase, is required for the covalent joining of the incoming nucleotide to the primer.

Detailed explanation-3: -Primase is activated by the helicase where it then synthesizes a short RNA primer approximately 11 ±1 nucleotides long, to which new nucleotides can be added by DNA polymerase. Archaeal and eukaryote primases are heterodimeric proteins with one large regulatory and one minuscule catalytic subunit.

Detailed explanation-4: -DNA primases are enzymes whose continual activity is required at the DNA replication fork. They catalyze the synthesis of short RNA molecules used as primers for DNA polymerases. Primers are synthesized from ribonucleoside triphosphates and are four to fifteen nucleotides long.

Detailed explanation-5: -The central enzyme involved is DNA polymerase, which catalyzes the joining of deoxyribonucleoside 5′-triphosphates (dNTPs) to form the growing DNA chain.