Polymerase
From Free net encyclopedia
Image:TaqPol.jpg A polymerase (EC 2.7.7.6/7/19/48/49) is an enzyme whose central function is associated with polymers of nucleic acids such as RNA and DNA. The most well-known function of a polymerase is the catalysis of production of new DNA or RNA from an existing DNA or RNA template, a process known as polymerization. It is an accident of history that the enzymes and organelles responsible for the catalytic production of other biopolymers are not also referred to as polymerases.
One particular polymerase, from the thermophilic bacteria, Thermus aquaticus (Taq, pronounced "tack") (PDB 1BGX, EC 2.7.7.7) is of vital commercial importance due to its use in the polymerase chain reaction, a widely-used technique of molecular biology.
Other well-known polymerases include:
- Terminal Deoxynucleotidyl Transferase (TdT), which lends diversity to antibody heavy chains
- Reverse Transcriptase, which has both an RNA-dependent DNA polymerase activity and a DNA-dependent DNA polymerase activity. It is also a major drug design target.
See also
- DNA polymerase
- DNA polymerase I
- DNA polymerase III holoenzyme
- DNA Polymerase IV (DinB) –SOS repair polymerase
- DNA Polymerase IV (DinB) – SOS repair polymerase
- RNA polymerase