What makes dna replicate

The two separated strands will act as templates for making the new strands of DNA. As a result of their different orientations, the two strands are replicated differently: An illustration to show replication of the leading and lagging strands of DNA. Related Content:. What is a genome? What is DNA? What is a cell?

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How has the site influenced you or others? Thankyou, we value your feedback! We use cookies to improve this site. As the helicase moves along the DNA molecule, it continues breaking these hydrogen bonds and separating the two polynucleotide chains Figure 1. How are DNA strands replicated? Figure 3: Beginning at the primer sequence, DNA polymerase shown in blue attaches to the original DNA strand and begins assembling a new, complementary strand.

Figure 4: Each nucleotide has an affinity for its partner. A pairs with T, and C pairs with G. The color of the rectangle represents the chemical identity of the nitrogenous base. A grey horizontal cylinder is attached to one end of the rectangle in each nucleotide and represents a sugar molecule. The nucleotides are arranged in two rows and the nitrogenous bases point toward each other. A set of four nucleotides are in both the upper and lower rows.

From left to right, the nucleotides in the top row are adenine green , cytosine orange , thymine red , and guanine blue. From left to right, the complementary nucleotides in the bottom row are: thymine red , guanine blue , adenine green , and cytosine orange.

Figure 5: A new DNA strand is synthesized. This strand contains nucleotides that are complementary to those in the template sequence. How long does replication take? More on replication. How does DNA polymerase work? What does the molecular structure of a nucleotide look like? What does the lagging strand look like? Watch this video for a summary of DNA replication in eukaryotes.

Key Questions What if an error happens during replication? How is DNA stored in the cell before and after replication? What do the leading and lagging strands look like when they are being replicated?

Key Concepts DNA polymerase primer transcription. Topic rooms within Genetics Close. No topic rooms are there. Browse Visually. Other Topic Rooms Genetics. Student Voices. Creature Cast. Simply Science. Green Screen. Green Science.

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