[rleung]

Hi,

I am not sure if anyone here would be well-versed in this area, but in my textbook, it says that DNA polymerase, ligase, and primase are responsible for completing the "hole" in the lagging strand after telomerase adds a telomere (in preparation for meiosis).  I am confused as to why primase would be involved.  Primase just adds an RNA primer, but in sex cells, doesn't telomerase serve that purpose?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.  Thanks.

Ryan

[Yggdrasil]

What text book is this in?

[rleung]

Biological Science by Scott Freeman, 2nd edition, pg. 317

[sdekivit]

telomerase does not need primase activity. Primase is important for DNA polymerase, since it needs a 3' OH-group to synthesize a DNA strand.

Telomeric DNA contains several repeats to which telomerase binds and extends the so called G-rich strand.Then DNA polymerase I can complete the lagging strand so that no crucial information is lost.

--> the book is right, but it's kinda hard to understand that telomerase itself does not elongate the lagging strand. It elongates the leading strand so that another loop in the DNA can occur and thus another Okazaki fragment.