Definition of "transferase" [transferase]

• Any of various enzymes that catalyze the transfer of a chemical group, such as a phosphate or amine, from one molecule to another. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The reaction is catalyzed by Arg tRNA-protein transferase, a known protein with an hitherto unknown function."
• "Ensuing discoveries of other natural catalytic RNAs that could cleave and ligate phosphodiester bonds, and the very recent observation that the region surrounding the peptidyl transferase center of a bacterial"
• "Identification of a specific telomere terminal transferase activity in Tetrahymena extracts."