TITLE: 
DNA REPLICATION 
by:​ CHOY YI LING 
( MS1813362299 / H3P02B )
 

LECTURER:
PN. ROHAYU BINTI MAT SAID

August 2018

Word Count: 1,309

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TABLE OF CONTENT

1 INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………1 

1.1 DEFINITION……………………………….……………………………………………..1 

2 THEORY……………………………………………………………………1 

2.1 STRUCTURE OF DNA………………………………………………..……………….1 

2.2 DNA REPLICATION MODELS……………………………………………………...2 

2.3 DIRECTIONALITY……………………………………………….……..……………..3 

3 PROCESS OF REPLICATION………………………............…….4 

3.1 INITIATION…………………………………………………….…………………….….4 

3.2 ELONGATION…………………………………………………………..…….…………5 

​3.2.1 LEADING STRAND………………………………………….…...…………………….6

​3.2.2 LAGGING STRAND……………………………………...….…...…………………….6 

3.3 TERMINATION……………………………………….…………………..…….………7 

4 APPLICATION AND CONCLUSION…………….………………..8 

4.1 APPLICATION OF DNA REPLICATION…………………………………………8 

4.2 CONCLUSION…………………………………………......................................8 

5 REFERENCES…………………….....................................…….9 

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1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 DEFINITON

DNA replication is the biological process of producing two identical replicas of DNA from one
original DNA molecule which is in other words, the process which DNA produces an exact
copy of itself. This process occurs in all living organisms and is the basic for biological
inheritance. DNA replication occurs in the nucleus of a cell during the S-phase of interphase
in cell division.

2 THEORY

2.1 STRUCTURE OF DNA

According to the DNA model discovered by Watson and Crick in 1953, the DNA molecule
consists of two strands of polynucleotide coiled together to form a double helix. The two
polynucleotide strands are linked together by hydrogen bonds formed between
complementary bases. Two hydrogen bonds are formed between the bases adenine (A) and
thymine (T) while three hydrogen bonds are formed between the bases guanine (G) and
cytosine (C).

(i) DNA is a double helix.

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 (ii) Bases A and T are joined by two H-bond while bases G and C are joined by
three H-bond.

2.2 DNA REPLICATION MODELS

Three models were proposed based on the Watson and Crick double helix model of DNA to
describe the mechanism of DNA replication.

CONSERVATIVE SEMICONSERVATIVE DISPERSIVE

MODEL MODEL MODEL

● Template: the whole ● Template: strands as ● Template:

original double helix. a result of separation double-stranded DNA
● Result: one daughter of two parental DNA segments broken
molecule with original strands. down from parental
parental DNA ● Result: Each double double helix.
molecule and the helix consists of one ● New segments are
other daughter parental strand and synthesized.
molecule consists of one new strand. ● The segments then
totally new DNA. reassemble into two
complete DNA double
helices, each
interspersed with

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 parental and new
DNA segments.

After Meselson and Stahl experiment, it was concluded that the semiconservative model was
the mechanism of DNA replication.

2.3 DIRECTIONALITY

The two strands of double helix are anti-parallel, which means that their orientations are in
opposite direction. These strands have two designated ends called 3’ (3 prime) and 5’ (5
prime). These numbers indicate the end -to-end chemical orientation.

At one end of the DNA molecule, one of the polynucleotide strands ends with a phosphate
group attached to carbon 5 (C​5​) of a deoxyribose sugar. This end is the​ 5’
​ terminal. The other
polynucleotide strands ends with a hydroxyl group joined to carbon 3 (C​3​) of a deoxyribose
sugar is the 3’ terminal.

If one strand is 5’ to 3’ while reading from up to down, the other strand will be 3’ to 5’. The
synthesis of new DNA can only occurs in the 5’ to 3’ direction with the original DNA molecule
acting as the template strand.

The strands of DNA is anti-parallel

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3 PROCESS OF REPLICATION

A simple diagram of the process of replication of DNA

3.1 INITIATION

In a cell, DNA replication begins at specific locations, or origins of replication, in the genome.
Helicase catalyzes the DNA double helix to unwind. This catalyze breaks the hydrogen
bonds between the base pairs to separate the parental strands so that the strands will be
available as a template. As a result, replication fork is formed.

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 Unwinding of DNA double helix

The enzyme topoisomerase attaches to the double helix to relieve stain while the
double-stranded DNA is being unwound by helicase. Each separated single-stranded DNA is
bounded by protein molecules known as single-strand binding proteins (SSBP) to stabilize
the DNA and stop the strands from binding again.

Once the strands are separated, replication can be initiated and a primer is required to bind
at the origin of replication. DNA primase catalyzes the synthesis of a short RNA primer
(about 10 nucleotides ​in length) by adding RNA nucleotide complementary to the template in
5’ to 3’ direction.

3.2 ELONGATION

After that, DNA primase is removed. Free DNA nucleotides are added by DNA polymerase III
to the RNA primer in the 5’ to 3’ direction. The enzyme DNA polymerase III synthesize new
strand by reading the nucleotides on the template strand and specifically adding one
nucleotide after the other. The addition of DNA nucleotide is complementary to the template.
If it reads a guanine (G) on the template, it will only add a Thymine (T) in the new strand.

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 (i) New strand id synthesized in the direction of 5’ to 3’
(ii) A ring-shaped protein called sliding clamp holds the polymerase into position
so that it keep working along the strand but not randomly float away.

3.2.1 LEADING STRAND

Since the two strands run in opposite directions (anti-parallel), one will be moving in the
direction of the replication fork while the other will move in opposite direction.

The leading strand is the strand synthesized in the direction same as the growing replication
fork. The template for this strand runs in the direction of 3’ to 5’. The polymerase attaches
only once and the sort of DNA replication is continuous.

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3.2.2 LAGGING STRAND

The lagging strand is the strand which its direction of synthesize is opposite to the direction
of growing replication fork. Because of this orientation, replication of the lagging strand is
more complicated than that of leading strand.

After the RNA primase is removed, DNA polymerase III adds DNA nucleotides to the RNA
primer to form a short DNA fragment called Okazaki fragment. As the DNA unwinds some
more, a new RNA primer is attached by RNA primase and the same procedure occurs again
so that another Okazaki fragment can be formed.

3.3 TERMINATION

The RNA primers are removed by DNA polymerase I. For the lagging strand, the Okazaki
fragments are sealed or joined up by DNA ligase so that a continuous strand can be
produced.

Once all the primers are removed and ligase has filled in all the gaps, the replication process
is complete. As a result, two double-stranded daughter DNA molecules are formed. Each has
one parental strand and one daughter strand in anti-parallel orientation.

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 Result of DNA replication

4 APPLICATION AND CONCLUSION

4.1 APPLICATION OF DNA REPLICATION

DNA replication is used in the production of recombinant DNA. Recombinant DNA is used for
genetic experimentation, and genetic modification. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) must
be performed or the DNA must be replicated within a host in order to have a large quantity of
DNA for study.

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Researchers commonly replicate DNA in vitro using the PCR. PCR uses a pair of primers to
span a target region in template DNA, and then polymerizes partner strands in each direction
from these primers using a thermostable DNA polymerase. Repeating this process through
multiple cycles amplifies the targeted DNA region.

At the start of each cycle, the mixture of template and primers is heated to separate the
newly synthesized molecule and template. After the mixture cools, both of these become
templates for annealing of new primers and the polymerase extends from these. As a result,
the number of copies of the target region doubles each round, increasing exponentially.

4.2 CONCLUSION

In short, DNA replication is a process that DNA produces an exact copy of itself and is based
on semiconservative model. The process of replication involve initiation, elongation and
termination with the aids of enzymes helicase, topoisomerase, single-strand binding protein
(SSBP), DNA primase, DNA polymerase III, DNA polymerase I and DNA ligase.

DNA contains the blueprints for how to synthesize proteins and other molecules that make
the cell run. Without it, cells are unable to synthesize the molecules they need to survive. The
replication of DNA is very important as meiosis and mitosis would slowly halve the size of the
genome until each cell die if DNA never duplicated. Therefore, it is important that DNA
doubles itself to account for the cells splitting during mitosis/ meiosis.

5 REFERENCES

Liew Shee Leong, SUdani Sudin, Kamaludin A. Rashid, Lee Soon Ching & Nor Azlina Abd
Aziz (2018). Biology for Matriculation Semester 1 (5​th​ Ed.), Oxford Fajar Sdn. Bhd.

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https://www.scienceabc.com/pure-sciences/dna-replication-steps-diagram-where-when-replic
ation-occurs.html

https://prezi.com/me3egqtpay6k/dna-replication/?webgl=0

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_replication

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