Written by Samantha Wong (PEACE Advisor)

A) What is the chemical mechanism for how nucleotides joined together during DNA replication? What is the nucleophile and the electrophile?

B) What is the leaving group for the reaction described above?

Click “Read More” to see the answer. 

a) 3’ OH on the ribose sugar is the nucleophile, 5’ P in the triphosphate is the electrophile. The image above describes this reaction. 

b) Inorganic pyrophosphate (Also shown in the image above). 

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