polymerase

polymerase /po·lym·er·ase/ (pah-lim´er-ās) an enzyme that catalyzes polymerization.

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pol·y·mer·ase (pl-m-rs, -rz)

n.

Any of various enzymes that catalyze polymerization, especially those that catalyze the synthesis of polynucleotides of DNA or RNA using an existing strand of DNA or RNA as a template.

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polymerase

[pə·lim′ər·ās]

any enzyme that catalyzes polymerization, especially of nucleotides to polynucleotides.

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polymerase [pah-lim´er-ās]

an enzyme that catalyzes polymerization.

polymerase chain reaction a rapid technique for in vitro amplification of specific DNA or RNA sequences, allowing small quantities of short sequences to be analyzed without cloning.

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polymerase

an enzyme that catalyzes polymerization, particularly of nucleic acids.

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polymerase chain reaction

see pcr1.

RNA polymerase

1. an enzyme that synthesizes an RNA copy of the sequence in a limited region of DNA in a process known as DNA transcription. Called also DNA-dependent RNA polymerase.

2. a viral enzyme that synthesizes RNA from an RNA template during viral replication. Called also RNA-dependent RNA polymerase.

RNA-dependent RNA polymerase

see RNA polymerase (above).

Taq polymerase

a DNA polymerase that functions at high temperature; derived from the bacterium Thermus aquaticus and used in the polymerase chain reaction.