Methods in Molecular Biology • 16 Enzymes of Molecular Biology

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CHAPTER 3


DNA Polymerases (EC 2.7.7.7)


Martin J. Maunders



  1. Introduction
    DNA polymerases catalyze the synthesis of DNA molecules from
    monomeric deoxynucleotide triphosphate units. This definition encom-
    passes those enzymes classed as DNA-dependent DNA polymerases
    (EC 2.7.7.7, which require both a DNA template strand and a DNA
    primer to which the monomeric units can be added), reverse tran-
    scriptases (EC 2.7.7.49, RNA-dependent DNA polymerases that uti-
    lize an RNA template), and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferases
    (EC 2.7.7.31, which require no template). This chapter will consider
    only DNA-dependent DNA polymerases (EC 2.7.7.7, DNA
    nucleotidyltransferases, DNA-directed).
    DNA-dependent DNA polymerases are a class of enzyme that is
    essential for the replication and maintenance of all organisms. All
    perform essentially the same reaction, the addition of monomeric units
    to synthesize a complementary copy of an existing DNA template.
    This activity can be used in molecular biology for a wide range of
    techniques. These include the labeling of DNA molecules, terminally
    or throughout the sequence, for use as probes or for sequence determi-
    nation, the modification of DNA termini for facilitating subsequent
    manipulations, the production of double-stranded cDNA, the exten-
    sion of mismatched sequences for site-directed mutagenesis, the exten-
    sion of synthetic DNA sequences for gene synthesis, and the specific
    amplification of limiting quantities of DNA for analysis.


From: Methods in Molecular Biology, Vol. 16: Enzymes of Molecular Biology
Edited by: M. M. Burrell Copyright ©1993 Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ

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