restriction endonucleases
What restriction endonucleases means in Biology A-Level, as defined for AQA.
Definitions of restriction endonucleases
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Reference: AQA
Enzymes whose active site is complementary to a specific palindromic recognition sequence, hydrolysing phosphodiester bonds in the sugar-phosphate backbone.
Each enzyme recognises one specific palindromic sequence and hydrolyses phosphodiester bonds in the sugar-phosphate backbone there.
Enzymes that cut DNA at specific recognition sequences, not at random positions.
Topics that use restriction endonucleases
- DNA, genes and chromosomes (AQA A-Level)
- Recombinant DNA technology (A-level only) (AQA A-Level)
Related terms
- alleles
- base sequence
- cDNA and reverse transcriptase
- chromatin
- circular organelle DNA
- complementary base pairing
- crossing over
- degenerate code
Using restriction endonucleases in the exam
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