Question
Drag one of the nucleotides to a corresponding nitrogenous base on one of the two strands. What is the role of DNA polymerase in this process?
Answers
GPT-4o mini
In DNA replication, DNA polymerase is the enzyme responsible for synthesizing new DNA strands by adding nucleotides to a growing chain. It plays a crucial role in the process by facilitating the matching of nucleotides to the template strand based on complementary base pairing.
For example, if a nucleotide with the base adenine (A) is present, DNA polymerase will add a nucleotide with the complementary base thymine (T) to the new strand. Similarly, it pairs cytosine (C) with guanine (G) and vice versa. This ensures that the new DNA strand is an accurate copy of the original template strand.
In summary, DNA polymerase:
1. Adds nucleotides to the growing DNA strand.
2. Ensures proper base pairing according to the rules of complementary bases (A-T and C-G).
3. Acts during the replication of DNA to produce identical copies for cell division.
For example, if a nucleotide with the base adenine (A) is present, DNA polymerase will add a nucleotide with the complementary base thymine (T) to the new strand. Similarly, it pairs cytosine (C) with guanine (G) and vice versa. This ensures that the new DNA strand is an accurate copy of the original template strand.
In summary, DNA polymerase:
1. Adds nucleotides to the growing DNA strand.
2. Ensures proper base pairing according to the rules of complementary bases (A-T and C-G).
3. Acts during the replication of DNA to produce identical copies for cell division.