The Discontinuous Aspect of Replication of DNA in Vivo Is

Question

The discontinuous aspect of replication of DNA in vivo is caused by ________.
A) polymerase slippage
B) trinucleotide repeats
C) the 5′ to 3′ polarity restriction
D) topoisomerases cutting the DNA in a random fashion
E) sister-chromatid exchanges

Accepted Answer

The discontinuous aspect of DNA replication in vivo is due to the 5′ to 3′ polarity restriction of DNA polymerases. This means that while one strand (the leading strand) can be synthesized continuously in the direction of the replication fork movement, the other strand (the lagging strand) must be synthesized in short fragments (Okazaki fragments) that are later joined together, because it runs in the opposite direction.