Enzymes in DNA Replication

helicase

an enzyme that “unzips“ the DNA double helix Vander Waals forces during replication, allowing the two strands to separate and serve as templates for new strands

single-stranded binding proteins (SSB)

proteins that stabilize unwound DNA strands during replication and make sure they don’t recoil

topoisomerase

an enzyme that relieves the pressure ahead of the replication fork by unraveling the DNA strands, releasing pressure, and putting it back into its original supercoiled state

primase

an enzyme that synthesizes short RNA primers during DNA replication, providing a starting point for DNA polymerases to start replication

DNA polymerase Ⅲ

the primary enzyme responsible for synthesizing new DNA strands by adding nucleotides complementary to the template strand during DNA replication

exonuclease

an enzyme that removes RNA primers from the ends of a DNA molecule

ligase

an enzyme that joins DNA fragments together in the “lagging strand” during DNA replication