Question: can a dna polymerase initiate new strand of nucleic acid independently

Answer: No, When synthesizing new DNA, DNA polymerase can add free nucleotides only to the 3' end of the newly forming strand. This results in elongation of the newly forming strand in a 5'--3' direction. No known DNA polymerase is able to begin a new chain (de novo); it can only add a nucleotide onto a pre-existing 3'-OH group, and therefore needs a primer at which it can add the first nucleotide. Primers consist of RNA or DNA bases (or both). In DNA replication, the first two bases are always RNA, and are synthesized by another enzyme called primase. Helicase and topoisomerase II are required to unwind DNA from a double-strand structure to a single-strand structure to facilitate replication of each strand consistent with the semiconservative model of DNA replication.