Question

Why is the new dna strand complementary to the 3' to 5' strands assembled in short segments? why is the new dna strand complementary to the 3' to 5' strands assembled in short segments? only short dna sequences can extend off the rna primers the replication forks block the formation of longer strands dna polymerase can assemble dna only in the 5' to 3' direction dna polymerase can assemble dna only in the 3' to 5' direction it is more efficient than assembling complete new strands?

Answer 1

During DNA synthesis the DNA is unwound but only a portion at a time, the replication fork progresses in the 5'-->3' direction, and both strands are synthesized at the same time. When the fork progresses, the 3'-->5' strand will need a new primer because it was working in the opposite direction of the fork. So the answer is because "DNA polymerase can assemble DNA only in the 5' to 3' direction".