What is the difference between the lagging and leading strands?

What is the difference between the lagging and leading strands?

One of these is called the leading strand, and it is replicated continuously in the 3' to 5' direction. The other strand is the lagging strand, and it is replicated discontinuously in short sections. These sections are called Okazaki fragments, and they are short lengths of DNA.

What is a lagging strand in DNA?

A lagging strand is one of two strands of DNA found at the replication fork, or junction, in the double helix; the other strand is called the leading strand. A lagging strand requires a slight delay before undergoing replication, and it must undergo replication discontinuously in small fragments.

What is the difference in synthesis of the leading and lagging strands in DNA replication?

During DNA replication, the two antiparallel DNA strands are split in to the 'leading' and the 'lagging' strand by the enzyme DNA Helicase. … However, the lagging strand runs in the opposite direction, from 3prime to 5prime. This means nucleotides can only be added discontinuously.

Why is the lagging strand discontinuous?

Synthesis of the lagging strand proceeds not continuously, as on the leading strand, but discontinuously in a series of repeated steps. … The fragments are then covalently bound together by the enzyme DNA ligase, forming a continuous chain of nucleotides, thus completing replication of the lagging strand.