Question

Okazaki fragments are formed during which process?

• A. Transcription
• B. Translation
• C. DNA replication
• D. None

Hint:

Think about the discontinuous lagging strand of DNA.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: Okazaki fragments are short stretches of newly synthesised DNA produced during semiconservative DNA replication. They are a feature of how the lagging strand is copied.

Step 2: DNA polymerase can add nucleotides only in the 5' to 3' direction. The leading strand is synthesised continuously, but the lagging strand template runs in the opposite orientation, so it must be made in small discontinuous pieces. These pieces are the Okazaki fragments, each primed by a short RNA primer.

Step 3: The fragments are later joined by DNA ligase after RNA primers are removed and gaps are filled, giving a continuous lagging strand. Hence the correct answer is DNA replication.

Step 4: Transcription makes RNA from a DNA template and does not generate Okazaki fragments. Translation makes protein from mRNA and is unrelated to DNA synthesis, so both distractors are wrong.