Which statement correctly identifies an enzyme involved in DNA replication and describes its primary function?
A. Ligase catalyzes the binding of RNA primers to DNA via phosphodiester bonds.
B. Primase catalyzes the replacement of RNA primer nucleotides with DNA nucleotides.
C. Helicase catalyzes the separation of the parent DNA strands at the origin of replication.
D. Topoisomerase catalyzes the joining of adjacent Okazaki fragments into a continuous strand of DNA.

DNA is a double-stranded structure which must be converted into single-stranded to be replicated. So the two parent strands must be separated at the origin of replication by an enzyme and that enzyme is called DNA helicase.

This DNA helicase breaks the hydrogen bond between two DNA strands and creates a replication fork between the two strands of DNA which helps in converting the double-stranded DNA into a single strand.

The Single-stranded binding protein attaches to each strand and so that the two separated parent strand do not get annealed again. So the right answer is C.