Project: Diccionario Terminológico de Genética (Eurogene)
Identification number: 101
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 polymerase
Gramatical category: s
Definition: An enzyme that catalyzes (speeds) the polymerization of DNA. DNA polymerase uses preexisting nucleic acid templates and assembles the DNA from deoxyribonucleotides; it is necessary for the incorporation of precursor substances into new DNA.
Context: In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, reduced levels of the replicative α DNA polymerase result in greatly elevated frequencies of chromosome translocations and chromosome loss. We selected translocations in a small region of chromosome III and found that they involve homologous recombination events between yeast retrotransposons (Ty elements) on chromosome III and retrotransposons located on other chromosomes.