Final answer:
The answer to the student's question is b. primosome, helicase, primase. In bacterial DNA replication, the helicase unwinds the DNA and the primase synthesizes the RNA primer needed for DNA polymerase to start replication.
Step-by-step explanation:
In bacteria, a primosome is formed when a helicase closely associates transiently with a primase. Therefore, the correct answer to the student's question is b. primosome, helicase, primase. Helicase plays a crucial role in DNA replication by unwinding the double helix at the replication fork, allowing each strand to serve as a template for the new DNA strands. The primase synthesizes an RNA primer, which is necessary for DNA polymerase to begin DNA synthesis on the lagging strand in the form of Okazaki fragments. On the leading strand, DNA synthesis is continuous, while the lagging strand is synthesized in discrete sections due to the antiparallel nature of DNA.