You briefly expose bacteria undergoing DNA replication to radioactively labelled nucleotides. When you centrifuge the DNA isolated from the bacteria, the DNA separates into two classes. One class of labelled DNA includes very large molecules (thousands or even millions of nucleotides long), and the other includes short stretches of DNA (several hundred to a few thousand nucleotides in length). Which two classes of DNA do these different samples represent?
A) leading strands and Okazaki fragments
B) lagging strands and Okazaki fragments
C) Okazaki fragments and RNA primers
D) leading strands and RNA primers

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The large molecules represent the leading strands, which are synthesized continuously, while the short stretches represent Okazaki fragments, which are synthesized discontinuously on the lagging strand.

You Briefly Expose Bacteria Undergoing DNA Replication to Radioactively Labelled