Why is there a need to produce Okazaki fragments on the lagging strand,but not on the leading strand of DNA?
A)The two parental strands of DNA are antiparallel and DNA polymerase makes DNA in the 5' to 3'direction only.
B)It is substantially more efficient to make several shorter strands rather than one longer strand of DNA.
C)There is not enough cellular DNA ligase for bonding Okazaki fragments together if they were produced from both parental strands.
D)By having one leading strand and one lagging strand the cell can limit the amount of DNA polymerase used for chromosomal replication.
E)The leading strand opens first,and so Okazaki fragments are not needed.The lagging strand unwinds second resulting in the need to produce Okazaki fragments.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The parental strands of DNA are antiparallel, meaning they run in opposite directions. DNA polymerase only adds nucleotides to the 3' end of the growing strand. Therefore, the leading strand, which is replicated continuously in the 5' to 3' direction, can be replicated with a single continuous strand of DNA. The lagging strand, which is replicated discontinuously in the 3' to 5' direction, requires the synthesis of multiple Okazaki fragments, each with a 5' to 3' orientation, to fill in the gaps between RNA primers.

Why Is There a Need to Produce Okazaki Fragments on the Lagging