why does one strand have to lag? doesn’t DNA polymerase III bind to 3′ OH ends of RNA primers and then synthesize in a 5′ to 3′ direction? don’t all the RNA primers have a 3′ end for the polymerase to bind to? so why is one strand able to synthesize continuously while the other does it bit by bit?
please help ya girl broke down while studying in Starbucks because she couldn’t understand even after way too long
In: 3
Pretend you’re unzipping a zipper (slowly)
Now how do you start reading from both ends at once since you’re unzipping in one direction? (you can’t)
As soon as there’s room for a primer to bind, DNA polymerase will get started…. but you’re not done unzipping, the lagging strand started near the end, not near the beginning, so you’re left with an okazaki fragment.
This is why the lagging stand can’t be continuous.
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