The extent to which an RNA or DNA polymerase adhers to a template before dissociating, determines the average length (in kilobases) of the newly synthesized nucleic acid strands. Also applies to the action of exonucleases in digesting from the ends to the middle of a nucleic acid.
The ability of an enzyme to catalyse more than one turnover before releasing the substrate or product of the reaction.
The number of nucleotides polymerized before a polymerase dissociates from the template.
The ability of polymerases to repeatedly add bases to the primer, extending even a new type of base.
The ability of an enzyme to repetitively continue its catalytic function without dissociating from its substrate.
the degree to which a DNA or RNA polymerase remains bound to its template during a polymerization reaction.
Property of an enzyme to complete a multi-step reaction (like DNA replication) without dissociating from the substrate. Processivity is also used as a quantitive term, signifying how many single steps an enzyme performs before it dissociates. The opposite of processive is distributive.
The length of polynucleotide that is synthesized by a DNA polymerase before it dissociates from the template.
In molecular biology, processivity is a measure of the average number of nucleotides added by a DNA polymerase enzyme per association/disassociation with the template. DNA polymerases associated with DNA replication tend to be highly processive, while those associated with DNA repair tend to have low processivity. Because the binding of the polymerase to the template is the rate-limiting step in DNA synthesis, the overall rate of DNA replication during S phase of the cell cycle is dependent on the processivity of the DNA polymerases performing the replication.
