<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I've been reviewing my knowledge for DNA stuffs, and one thing confuses me ---- DNA polymerization. I thought that DNA polymerization meant elogation of DNA in Polymerase Chain Reaction. I then assumed that this is another way of saying DNA replication.</p>
<p>But I asked my teacher for assistance before break, and he said that it's not DNA replication, but rather, the process is called dehydration synthesis, and phosphate and sugar are involved in DNA polymerization.</p>
<p>This confuses me because it's contradictory to what I've been reading in my review books and internet.</p>
<p>Can someone clarify this for me? Thanks!</p>
<p>man, it's been a few months since I took that test and I'm amazed at how much I've forgotten.
DNA polymerization (don't take my word for it) is the creation of the new DNA strand (by DNA polymerase enzyme) during replication</p>
<p>polymerization is just making something longer (like constructing a polysaccharide or polypeptide by adding a sugar or amino acid)... so it would be adding a nucleotide to a DNA molecule - a nucleoside triphosphate comes in and links to the sugar-phosphate backbone and a pyrophosphate breaks off (catalzyed by DNA polymerase), the nucleotide (nucleoside + remaining phophate) is now a part of the DNA strand</p>
<p>I'm not sure where dehydration synthesis comes into play because I don't remember any water being involved</p>
<p>And I think PCR is just synthetic(in a lab) DNA replication</p>
<p>JohnC, the creation of the whole new strand during replication is called DNA synthesis (polymerization is just adding of one nucleotide during synthesis)</p>
<p>... I think</p>
<p>tapedDuck is correct.</p>
<p>Dehydration synthesis is involved because a 3' OH is removed from one nucleotide, and an H is removed from the nucleoside triphosphate of the incoming nucleotide to form the phosphodiester bond between the two nucleotides.</p>