Why is Taq polymerase thermostable?

Taq polymerase is an enzyme found in Thermus aquaticus, an organism which live in environments of extremely high temperatures, such as hot springs. It is therefore extremely thermostable, hence known as thermophilic bacterium. The optimum temperature for the Taq polymerase is 75-80 degree Celsius. …

Is the Taq DNA polymerase thermostable?

Taq polymerase is a thermostable DNA polymerase I named after the thermophilic eubacterial microorganism Thermus aquaticus, from which it was originally isolated by Chien et al. in 1976. Its name is often abbreviated to Taq or Taq pol.

Why is a thermostable polymerase used in PCR?

PCR uses a logarithmic process to amplify DNA sequences. A thermostable DNA polymerase is used in repeated cycles of primer annealing, DNA synthesis and dissociation of duplex DNA to serve as new templates. After 30 cycles of PCR from a single template, 1×109 new DNA molecules could be synthesized.

What makes Taq polymerase unique?

The unique properties of taq DNA polymerase are that it lacks its 3′ to 5′ exonuclease proofreading activity resulting in relatively low replication fidelity, it makes DNA products that have A (adenine) overhangs at their 3′ ends, this may be useful in TA cloning.

What is the role of Taq polymerase?

Taq polymerase denotes the heat-stable DNA polymerase extracted from the thermophilic bacteria Thermus aquaticus. It is used to automate the repetitive steps in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique, an extremely important method of amplifying specific DNA sequences.

What is the purpose of Taq polymerase?

What important property does Taq polymerase have that makes it useful?

Taq DNA Polymerase is highly efficient, so it becomes fully functional as it reaches its optimum temperature. It also has a half-life of more than two hours (at a temperature of 92 °C), a high-amplification capacity, and the ability to add 150 nucleotides per second.

Why was the discovery of Taq polymerase so important for making PCR a standard laboratory technique?

Taq polymerase, the first heat-stable DNA polymerase for PCR, was discovered in 1966. PCR transformed DNA amplification, making the process rapid and efficient. This would revolutionize cloning, DNA testing, forensics and medicine design.