DNA Replication Steps

1) Helicase- unwinds the parental double helix 2) DNA topoisomerase - upstream of helices alleviating torsional strain 3) Single-strand binding proteins (SSBP) stabilize unwound DNA, aided by DNA gyrase. 4) Primase synthesizes a short RNA primer for DNA polymerase to bind to in the 5' to 3' direction to start replication on each strand. 5) DNA polymerase synthesizes the leading strand in 5' to 3' direction while the lagging strand is made discontinuously by primase making short pieces and then DNA polymerase extending these to make Okazaki fragments. 6) DNA ligase joins the Okazaki fragments together