Polymerase

Polymerases occurs in all living organisms enzymes that catalyze the polymerization of nucleotides, the basic components of the nucleic acid. Their function is necessary for the propagation of genetic information (DNA) in the process of replication, a prerequisite for cell division. Furthermore, they are necessary for the first steps of protein biosynthesis, the production of proteins in the cell.

Polymerases produce the nucleic acids DNA and RNA. To link this in a certain order nucleotides into a nucleic acid chain. This order is usually dictated by a different nucleic acid, which is used as a template ( template). Depending on the nature of the document and the product ( RNA or DNA) differentiates the following polymerases:

Examples

An example of RNA polymerases, which works without a template (template ) are poly ( A) RNA polymerases (PAP ), who grow the poly -A tail of mRNA molecules. The terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase ( TdT ) is a template - independent DNA polymerase.