What are the roles of DNA polymerase delta and DNA polymerase alpha in replication? What are their equivalents in bacteria? Solution DNA polymerases are enzymes that synthesize DNA molecule from deoxyribonucleotides, the building blocks of DNA. There are variety of DNA polymerases like DNA pol delta, DNA pol alpha and DNA pol Epsilon in eukaryotes. Role of DNA polymerase Delta: It is an enzyme complex found in eukaryotes that is involved in DNA replication and repair. DNA Pol is an enzyme used for both leading and lagging strand synthesis. It exhibits increased processivity when interacting with a proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). DNA Pol occupies a central role in all of these processes: catalysing the accurate replication of majority of the genome, participating in several DNA repair synthetic pathways, and contributing structurally to the accurate bypass of problematic lesions during translesion synthesis. In bacteria like E.Coli, the DNA polymerase III is equivalent to DNA polymerase delta of eukaryotes. Role of DNA polymerase alpha: DNA Pol is an enzyme complex found in eukaryotes that is involved in initiation of DNA replication. This enzyme is responsible for initiation of DNA replication at origins of replications and during synthesis of Okazaki fragments on the lagging strand. The E.Coli DNA polymerase II is homologous to DNA polymerase alpha of eukaryotes..