What type of primer does primase synthesize during DNA replication?

Primase synthesizes an RNA primer during DNA replication. This RNA primer is crucial because it provides a starting point for DNA polymerases to begin synthesizing the new DNA strand. DNA polymerases cannot initiate synthesis on their own; they can only add nucleotides to an existing strand of nucleic acid. Therefore, the RNA primer acts as a small segment of RNA that base-pairs with the template strand of DNA, allowing DNA polymerase to extend from it.

The RNA primer is typically short, around 5-10 nucleotides long, and is complementary to the DNA template strand. Once the DNA strand is synthesized, the RNA primers are later removed and replaced with DNA nucleotides, maintaining the integrity of the DNA molecule during replication. This process highlights the significance of primase and its role in initializing DNA synthesis. The concept of Okazaki fragments is related but refers specifically to the short segments of DNA synthesized on the lagging strand, which are initiated from RNA primers laid down by primase.