Techniques used to study the DNA polymerase reaction pathway

A minimal reaction pathway for DNA polymerases was established over 20 years ago using chemical-quench methods. Since that time there has been considerable interest in noncovalent steps in the reaction pathway, conformational changes involving the polymerase or its DNA substrate that may play a role in substrate specificity. Fluorescence-based assays have been devised in order to study these conformational transitions and the results obtained have added new detail to the reaction pathway.