Question
Question: Restriction endonuclease an enzyme used in genetic engineering is employed for?...
Restriction endonuclease an enzyme used in genetic engineering is employed for?
Solution
As we are aware of the name restriction enzymes. It is the most common tool; biological tool being used in the biotechnology field. Restriction enzymes as the name suggests are nothing but biological markers which are produced to cleave or cut DNA at the desired specific sites.
Complete answer:
Restriction enzymes are commonly called restriction endonuclease. It is called endonuclease as it makes cuts from inside of the DNA strands. As we know that all enzymes are proteins but all proteins are not enzymes; theory. Hence restriction enzymes are also proteins which are being produced by bacteria. Restriction enzymes split foreign DNA into the bacterial cell to remove infected organisms. Restriction enzymes are extracted from the bacterial cell in order to use in the laboratory to manipulate fragments of DNA. They are the indispensable tools which are used widely in recombinant DNA Technology (GENETIC ENGINEERING).
Each restriction enzyme recognizes a specific strand or site which are short specific sequences of nucleotide bases (the four basic chemical subunits of the linear double-stranded DNA molecule) These regions are called recognition sequences or recognition sites. Various bacterial species produce restriction enzymes that recognize various nucleotide sequences.
Typically, there are four types of restriction enzymes recognized, TYPE-I, II, III, IV.
TYPE I- this is the restriction enzyme which recognizes specific DNA sequences but makes their cut at random sites that can be as far as 1000 base pairs from the recognition site.
TYPE II- it is the enzyme which recognizes and cuts directly within the recognition site. It is the most used or preferred restriction enzyme due to its correct identification techniques.
TYPE III- it recognizes specific sequences but makes their cut seemingly at a different specific location that is usually within about 25 base pairs of the recognition site.
Some examples of restriction endonucleases are- ECoB and EcoK are type I enzymes, while Hind II and HindIII are type II enzymes.
Note:
As we discussed about the restriction enzymes or endonucleases, its examples, cutting mechanisms, on the basis of cutting mechanism this enzyme is of two types- restriction endonuclease and restriction exonuclease. Endo as the name is known for the inner side, so it makes cuts from inward of the recognition site and exonuclease which means making cuts from the outward of the DNA strand. After cutting the strands from required sequences it is important to join the strands, Hence DNA ligase is an enzyme used for ligating the broken strands. It ligates strands at a specific temperature under suitable lab conditions.