What Happens at the Replication Fork?
Two main activities happen at the fork: DNA unwinding and DNA synthesis. The RF unwinds the unreplicated DNA ahead of it through a helicase enzyme complex (Gambus et al. 2009; Lou et al. 2008). As their name suggests, helicases modify the structure of the DNA helix and promote unwinding and separation of the two DNA strands. The second activity of DNA synthesis at the RF is undertaken by DNA polymerase. This enzyme links together, or polymerizes, DNA bases in the correct sequence using the template DNA strand, and it generates two copies of the genome that are later divided into daughter cells in metaphase, or M phase (Langston et al. 2009).
