dna restriction enzyme meaning

[Medicine]
Enzymes that are part of the restriction-modification systems. They catalyze the endonucleolytic cleavage of DNA sequences which lack the species-specific methylation pattern in the host cell's DNA. Cleavage yields random or specific double-stranded fragments with terminal 5'-phosphates. The function of restriction enzymes is to destroy any foreign DNA that invades the host cell. Most have been studied in bacterial systems,but a few have been found in eukaryotic organisms. They are also used as tools for the systematic dissection and mapping of chromosomes,in the determination of base sequences of DNAs,and have made it possible to splice and recombine genes from one organism into the genome of another. EC 3.21.1.

Examples

1. After studying slow lorises from Indochina, polymorphic loci, and mitochondrial DNA restriction enzyme analysis.
2. It is a DNA restriction enzyme, therefore it has the ability to cut the DNA from certain region as demonstrated below.
3. Differences between terminal region patterns of DNA restriction enzyme digests of different RCN isolates suggest that varied passaging has promoted the advancement of polymorphisms since the virus was first isolated in 1961.