Taq DNA Ligase

Taq DNA Ligase catalyzes the formation of a phosphodiester bond between 5ʹ- phosphate and 3ʹ- hydroxyl groups of adjacent DNA strands annealed to their complement strand. The enzyme only repairs the nicked DNA and is not a substitute for T4 ligase in the repair of most endonuclease cleavage sites. Taq DNA Ligase is intolerant to gaps and mispairs, allowing the resolution of SNPs. The enzyme is active at temperatures up to 75 °C and is used in a number of molecular biology workflows. Most commonly, Taq DNA Ligase can be used to mediate mutagenesis by incorporating phosphorylated oligonucleotides into molecular cloning constructs. Ligated molecules and/or probes can also be used as input into regular PCR reactions for ligase chain reaction (LCR) determination of target sequences.