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Chapter 25: Q5P (page 934)

The three DNA base pairs that fit within the active site of DNA polymerase have a conformation similar to that of A-DNA rather than the usual B-DNA. Why is it important for DNA polymerase to accommodate an A-type helix

Short Answer

Expert verified

It is important for DNA polymerase to accommodate an A-type helix as the DNA-RNA hybrid helix that attaches to the active site of polymerase has an A-form-like structure.

Step by step solution

01

DNA polymerase

The enzyme that attaches to the DNA molecule to create a new strand of the DNA by extending the primer made of ribonucleotides is known as DNA polymerase.

02

Activation of DNA Polymerase

The DNA polymerase binds to the template DNA that is already attached to the RNA primer to synthesize a new strand. Short stretches of RNA-DNA hybrid helices are associated with the active site of DNA polymerase to extend the primer, and this hybrid helix has a structure similar to the A-form of DNA.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Summarize the function of the following protein in E-coli DNA

Replication: DNA polymerase I, DNA polymerase II, DNA helicase, SSB, primase, The sliding clamp, clamp loader, DNA ligase, Tus, and topoisomerase?

A certain mutant DNA polymerase is error-prone, tending to incorporate C opposite a template A. When such a DNA polymerase replicates a segment of DNA containing an A · T base pair, what will be the DNA composition in the daughter cells after (a) one and (b) two rounds of cell division? Assume that DNA repair does not occur.

How does a eukaryotic cell distinguish the end of a broken chromosome from the end of an intact linear chromosome?

To put the E. colireplication system on a human scale, let us imagine that the20 - A-diameter B-DNA was expanded to1 min diameter. If everything were proportionally expanded, then each DNA polymerase holoenzyme would be about the size of a medium-sized truck. In such an expanded system: (a) How fast would each replisome be moving? (b) How far would each replisome travel during a complete replication cycle? (c) What would be the length of an Okazaki fragment? (d) What would be the average distance a replisome would travel between each error it made? Provide your answers in km/hrand km.

Yeast and some other organisms produce proteins that closely resemble -alkylguanine–DNA alkyltransferase but lack a Cys at the active site. (a) Explain why these proteins cannot remove an alkyl group attached to guanine. (b) These proteins do protect cells against DNA alkylation damage. In which type of repair process are these proteins most likely to participate?
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