Physical and Chemical Properties of DNA Ligases

DNA ligases as a particular type of enzyme which catalyze and facilitate the formation of a phosphodiester bond in duplex DNA are central enzymes in molecular biology. DNA ligase forms a bond between the end of a donor nucleotide and the end of an acceptor nucleotide. Reaction of DNA ligases is necessary for all organisms and serves as the fundamental step of DNA replication and repair. DNA ligase can play an important role in repairing single strand disruptions and fasten nicks in double-stranded DNA. It also connects Okazaki fragments during the replication of DNA. T4 DNA ligase, E. coli DNA ligase, and thermostable DNA ligases are examples of DNA ligase enzyme family. These enzymes differ in their co-factor requirements, substrate specificity, and thermal stability.
DNA ligase has the widespread use in laboratories of molecular biology for recombinant DNA experiments. Despite the existence and operation of the DNA ligases in all organisms, they show a vast variety of amino acid sequences, molecular sizes, and attributes.