What is "primase"

DNA primase is an enzyme involved in the replication of DNA and is a type of RNA polymerase. Primase catalyzes the synthesis of a short RNA (or DNA in some organisms ) segment called a primer complementary to a ssDNA template. Primase is of key importance in DNA replication because no known replicative DNA polymerases can initiate the synthesis of a DNA strand without an initial RNA or DNA primer (for temporary DNA elongation). After this elongation the RNA piece is removed by a 5' to 3' exonuclease and refilled with DNA.