Question

17. The enzyme DNA polymerase works only in the 5' to 3' direction. How does this affect the leading strand and the lagging strand?

O A. DNA polymerase can use only the leading strand as a template. A different enzyme is used to synthesize DNA on the lagging strand
O B. DNA polymerase can work on both the leading and the lagging strand but is much faster on the leading strand
O C. DNA polymerase can work continuously on the leading strand but must flip the lagging strand around before it can work on it
O D. DNA polymerase can work continuously on the leading strand but works discontinuously on the lagging strand, creating Okazaki fragments.

Answer 1

d

Step-by-step explanation:

Answer 2

D

Step-by-step explanation:

This is because the two DNA strands run antiparallel to each other. This means that as the DNA polymerase replicates the leading strand from 5’ --> 3’, the lagging strand is oriented in the 3’ --> 5’ which makes it difficult for a continuous replication like that of the leading strand. The DNA polymerase has evolved a mechanism to replicate the lagging strand discontinuously using many primers. This generates many fragments called Okazaki fragments that are ligated together to form one complete strand.