Project: Diccionario Terminológico de Genética (Eurogene)
Identification number: 100
Subdomains: Studies of chromatin, Studies of DNA, Studies of RNA, Techniques
Author/s: Ana MUÑOZ GASCÓN, Augustine Edith EMENE, Susana ALVAREZ ALVAREZ
Creation / modification date: 04-02-2014
Term: DNA ligase
Gramatical category: s
Definition: An enzyme that can repair breaks in a strand of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) by synthesizing a bond between adjoining nucleotides. Under some circumstances the enzyme can join together loose ends of DNA strands, and in some cases it can repair breaks in ribonucleic acid (RNA). It serves as a catalyst.
Context: Polymerase chain reaction, using thermostable DNA polymerase, has revolutionized DNA diagnostics. Another thermostable enzyme, DNA ligase, is harnessed in the assay reported here that both amplifies DNA and discriminates a single-base substitution.