sections of copied dna created on the lagging strand

#Sections of copied dna created on the lagging strand free#

It requires DNA polymerase to move in the opposite direction - causing the formation of short and discontinous segments - called the Okazaki fragments. For one strand called the leading strand, this only needs to happen once as it moves in the same direction as the replication fork- the direction where the helicase enzyme is unwounding the DNA.

#Sections of copied dna created on the lagging strand free#

However, it only attaches new neucleotides to the free 3' hydroxyl end. The enzyme responsible for this is DNA polymerase III. Here, two new strands of DNA are assembled using the parent DNA as a template. Another protein then helps stabilize the newly single-stranded DNA. Helicase is a group of enzyme that helps unwounds DNA by breaking hydrogen bonds between the nitrogenous bases. Here, several initiator proteins bind to the DNA and begin the process of unwinding the double helix.

It begins at a specific nucleotide sequence, called the origin of replication.

Hence two newly generated molecules remain similar to the parent DNA molecule.ĭNA replication occurs in three basic phases which relies on the structural features of DNA and a number of specialized enzymatic proteins. This means that each new molecule of DNA contains one strand of the parent molecule and one complementary strand that is newly synthesized (daughter strand).