Relaxase

A relaxase is a single-strand DNA transesterase enzyme produced by some prokaryotes and viruses. Relaxases are responsible for site- and strand-specific nicks in double-stranded DNA. Known relaxases belong to the Rolling Circle Replication (RCR) initiator superfamily of enzymes and fall into two broad classes: replicative (Rep) and mobilization (Mob). The nicks produced by Rep relaxases initiate plasmid or virus RCR. Mob relaxases nick at origin of transfer (oriT) to initiate the process of DNA mobilization and transfer known as bacterial conjugation. Relaxases are so named because the single-stranded DNA nick that they catalyze lead to relaxation of helical tension.