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DNA primase is an enzyme involved in the replication of DNA and is a type of RNA polymerase. Primase catalyzes the synthesis of a short RNA (or DNA in some living organisms [ 1 ] ) segment called a primer complementary to a ssDNA (single-stranded DNA) template.
The E. Coli DnaG primase is a 581 residue monomeric protein with three functional domains, according to proteolysis studies. There is an N-terminal Zinc-binding domain (residues 1–110) where a zinc ion is tetrahedrally coordinated between one histidine and three cysteine residues, which plays a role in recognizing sequence specific DNA binding sites.
The DNA replication fork. RNA primer labeled at top. A primer is a short, single-stranded nucleic acid used by all living organisms in the initiation of DNA synthesis.A synthetic primer may also be referred to as an oligo, short for oligonucleotide.
On the lagging strand template, a primase "reads" the template DNA and initiates synthesis of a short complementary RNA primer. A DNA polymerase extends the primed segments, forming Okazaki fragments. The RNA primers are then removed and replaced with DNA, and the fragments of DNA are joined by DNA ligase. [citation needed]
DNA polymerase alpha, like DNA primase, contains iron-sulfur clusters, that are critical in electron transport that uses DNA itself to transfer electrons at very high speeds; this process is involved in detecting DNA damage, and may also be involved in a feedback between the primase complex and the DNA polymerase alpha.
Pol α complex (pol α-DNA primase complex) consists of four subunits: the catalytic subunit POLA1, the regulatory subunit POLA2, and the small and the large primase subunits PRIM1 and PRIM2 respectively. Once primase has created the RNA primer, Pol α starts replication elongating the primer with ~20 nucleotides. [44]
However, primase creates RNA primers at a much lower rate than that at which DNA polymerase synthesizes DNA on the leading strand. DNA polymerase on the lagging strand also has to be continually recycled to construct Okazaki fragments following RNA primers.
The replication of DNA in eukaryotic cells is carried out by a complex chromosomal replication apparatus, in which DNA polymerase alpha and primase are two key enzymatic components. Primase, which is a heterodimer of a small subunit and a large subunit, synthesizes small RNA primers for the Okazaki fragments made during discontinuous DNA ...