Aminoacyl tRNA synthetases catalyze a two-step reaction. In the first step, the enzyme binds to an amino acid and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to form an aminoacyl-adenylate intermediate. In the second step, the aminoacyl group is transferred from the intermediate to the 3’ end of the tRNA. This process is crucial as it ensures the correct amino acid is added to the growing polypeptide chain during translation.
