Taq DNA Polymerase

Description:
Taq DNA Polymerase is a thermostable DNA polymerase isolated from Thermus aquaticus. It catalyzes DNA synthesis in the 5’→3’ direction and is one of the most widely used enzymes for standard PCR. It has 5’→3’ polymerase and 5’→3’ exonuclease activities but lacks 3’→5’ proofreading activity, enabling fast but lower-accuracy DNA amplification.

Features:

• thermostable enzyme
• 5’→3’ DNA polymerase activity
• 5’→3’ exonuclease activity
• no 3’→5’ proofreading activity
• suitable for routine PCR
• high amplification yield
• produces A-overhang PCR products

Source:

• recombinant enzyme expressed in Escherichia coli
• originally from Thermus aquaticus

Unit Definition:
One unit (U) is defined as the amount of enzyme that incorporates 10 nmol of dNTPs into acid-insoluble material in 30 minutes at 75 °C.

Applications:

• standard PCR
• routine DNA amplification
• genotyping
• screening PCR
• cloning (TA cloning due to A-overhangs)