DNA polymerase
Noun
Meaning
the enzyme responsible for DNA replication
Source: WordNetSynonyms
Hypernyms
Examples
A complication at that point was that the DNA polymerase used was destroyed by the high heat used at the start of each replication cycle and had to be replaced.
Alberts, B., et al., Molecular Biology of the Cell, Garland Science, 4th ed., 2002, pp. 238–240 ISBN 0-8153-3218-1 DNA polymerase main DNA polymerases adds nucleotides to the 3' end of a strand of DNA.
As a rule-of-thumb, at its optimum temperature, the DNA polymerase polymerizes a thousand bases per minute.
At the chromosome terminal, however, there is no nucleotide sequence in the 5' direction (and therefore no upstream RNA primer or DNA), so DNA polymerase cannot function and genetic sequence might be lost through chromosomal fraying.
At the core of the PCR method is the use of a suitable DNA polymerase able to withstand the high temperatures of >convert required for separation of the two DNA strands in the DNA double helix after each replication cycle.
DNA polymerase III (in prokaryotes) or Pol δ (in eukaryotes) is responsible for extension of the primers added during replication of the lagging strand.