In
biochemistry,
ligase (from the
Latin verb
ligāre — "to bind" or "to glue together") is an
enzyme that can
catalyze the joining of two large molecules by forming a new
chemical bond, usually with accompanying
hydrolysis of a small pendant chemical group on one of the larger molecules or the enzyme catalyzing the linking together of two compounds, e.g., enzymes that catalyze joining of C-O, C-S, C-N, etc. In general, a ligase catalyzes the following reaction:
- Ab + C → A–C + b