Question

The DNA polymerisation rate of DNA polymerase is:
A. 3.9 × 10⁷ bp / s
B. 2000 bp / s
C. 4.6 × 10⁶ bp / s
D. 5000 bp /s

Answer 1

Hint: DNA polymerase helps in the process of replication of DNA. It helps by adding complementary nucleotides to the strand. The rate of polymerisation will depend on the number of base pairs added to the strand per second.

Step by step solution:
DNA polymerase, also known as replicates, is an enzyme that takes part in the replication of DNA. Prokaryotypes have 3 types of DNA polymerases III, II and I. They add nucleotide in 5’ → 3’. DNA polymerase III is mainly involved in adding nucleotides to the strand. DNA polymerase II and I are mainly observed in the repair mechanism.
In eukaryotes, several types of DNA polymerase can be observed, such as α, ꞵ, ɣ, δ and ε. DNA polymerase δ and ε show exonuclease activity.
DNA polymerase bind to the DNA at the site of Origin of Replication (ORC) and start its activity. It has RNA primers attached to the strand. Polymerase recognizes the primers and starts adding nucleotides. After the complementary strand formation, DNA polymerase I and II cleave the primers as they act in the repair mechanism.
DNA polymerase is really fast in addition to nucleotides to the strand. E. coli with 4.6 × 10⁶ bp completes its replication in 38 minutes. It means that the average rate of DNA replication is 2000 bp per second.

So, option B is correct.

Note: DNA polymerase shows exonuclease activity. It means that even by mistake if a wrong nucleotide gets attached at the wrong place, it will proofread the sequence and change the wrong nucleotide.