You have joined a lab studying DNA replication in E. coli. The graduate student you are working with has identified a mutation in primase that makes primase very inefficient. Your project is to characterize the cells with this mutation. Predict the defects you would most likely see in the mutant E. coli cells. Choose one or more: A. a delay in the unwinding of DNA B. rapid lagging-strand synthesis but slow leading-strand synthesis C. a delay in DNA polymerase beginning synthesis D. a longer total time to replicate DNA E. inefficient Okazaki fragment joining

DNA primases are RNA polymerases that play an active role during DNA replication by catalyzing the synthesis of short RNA sequences or 'primers' that are complementary to a single-stranded piece of DNA (i.e., to the DNA template). Primases are continuously required at the DNA replication fork before DNA replication can occur. Moreover, DNA polymerases always require a pre-existing primer sequence to initiate DNA chain elongation, thereby it is expected that an inefficient primase delay the DNA replication process and DNA polymerase activity.