The ligase enzymes are an important class among the classes of enzymes defined by the enzyme commission and falls as the sixth class in the systematic classification. The main objective of the ligase is to help in the catalyzation of two joining groups by the formation of chemical bondage between the joining molecule. The enzyme deoxyribonucleic acid ligase plays an essential role as by its nature it tends to mend the bond between the two separate groups. Thus, the role of formation of a single copied new strand from the parental strand is carried out by the help of deoxyribonucleic acid ligase only that catalyzes the construction of phosphodiester linkage between the side wise nucleotide molecules of the deoxyribonucleic acid strand.
Role of DNA ligase:
Deoxyribonucleic acid ligases are helpful in the activation of the reaction that leads to the formation of the bond between the adjacent free nucleotides produced during semi-conservative replication of the deoxyribonucleic acid strands resulting in the completion of the process by the formation of a single strand by joining the fragments. The deoxyribonucleic acid ligase can also be utilized in the process where during the replication of the deoxyribonucleic acid is exposed to damage due to any of the physical, chemical, or biological factors. The physical factor of damage includes ionic and non-ionic radiations, like ultraviolet rays and infrared rays. The chemical factors could be any chemical molecule undergoing chemical reactions like methylation or demethylation of the molecular biomolecules, while the biological factors include pathogens like viruses and bacteria. The damage can be corrected by the ligating property of the enzyme deoxyribonucleic acid ligase. Therefore, the ligase enzyme carries out the function of catalyzation in deoxyribonucleic acid strand replication as well as in deoxyribonucleic acid damage repair.
Being having the ability to ligate the separated molecules by the formation of chemical bonds, the deoxyribonucleic acid ligase is also widely used in the recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid technology called genetic engineering. The formation of the required molecule can be achieved by ligating the desired molecule with the deoxyribonucleic acid strand with the help of the enzyme deoxyribonucleic acid ligase.
