Biology DAT bootcamp question, mRNA vs RNA?

[savagelymoosey]

There is a question on bootcamp that states that RNA is not directly required in DNA replication, doesn't DNA replication need RNA primers from primase in order to replicate DNA? for context the other answers that ARE directly required are , purines and pyrimidines, helicase, ligase, and topoisomerase. I like the question but the reasoning of why is a bit fuzzy.


Thanks

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[FeralisExtremum]

If you could specify the test and question number on this I'll take a closer look at its answer explanation, but you are right that primase creates an RNA primer off of which DNA polymerase begins synthesizing DNA, so technically RNA would be needed as well.

 

[savagelymoosey]

If you could specify the test and question number on this I'll take a closer look at its answer explanation, but you are right that primase creates an RNA primer off of which DNA polymerase begins synthesizing DNA, so technically RNA would be needed as well.

test 7 #1, thanks!

 

[savagelymoosey]

test 7 #1, thanks!

biology test 7 sorry

 

[FeralisExtremum]

Looked into it - while RNA is needed for DNA replication, the answer choice is mRNA (a specific form of RNA that is ultimately used for protein translation, which wouldn't be applicable to the RNA created by primase). I do see how it could be a bit confusing, though.

 

[savagelymoosey]

Looked into it - while RNA is needed for DNA replication, the answer choice is mRNA (a specific form of RNA that is ultimately used for protein translation, which wouldn't be applicable to the RNA created by primase). I do see how it could be a bit confusing, though.

is there a name for that RNA? I thought there were three types of RNA but plain old RNA is kind of a fourth?

 

[FeralisExtremum]

is there a name for that RNA? I thought there were three types of RNA but plain old RNA is kind of a fourth?

There are many types of RNA (for example, microRNA or miRNA for short used in gene silencing) with a variety of functions, but most of them are beyond the scope of the DAT. The three categories you're thinking of (mRNA, rRNA, tRNA) are just the major categories used in protein translation, but not all RNA is limited to these categories.