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#5′→3′ exonuclease

2 public questions tagged with this topic.

Klenow fragment lacks which activity?

Limited proteolysis of Pol I by subtilisin yields large C-terminal Klenow fragment comprising polymerase and 3' to 5' exonuclease domains, removing N-terminal 5' to 3' exonuclease domain. Klenow retains templated synthesis and proofreading, widely used historically for DNA labeling, second strand cDNA synthesis, and Sanger sequencing before recombinant enzymes available. Loss of 5' to 3' activity prevents unwanted degradation of template during synthesis. Modern Klenow exo-minus version also lacks proofreading for higher efficiency incorporation of modified nucleotides and dideoxy terminators.

Ref: Lodish et al., Molecular Cell Biology, 9th ed., Tool Box: Klenow fragment preparation and activities, proteolysis of Pol I

5′→3′ exonuclease activity is present in

DNA polymerase I is unique among E. coli polymerases for possessing two distinct exonuclease activities within one polypeptide. Its 3' to 5' proofreading domain removes misincorporated nucleotides from growing strand, while N-terminal domain carries 5' to 3' exonuclease that cleaves RNA primers and downstream DNA during nick translation. Pol II possesses only 3' to 5' activity, Pol III epsilon provides proofreading but no 5' to 3' function. Dual nuclease capability qualifies Pol I for Okazaki fragment maturation, gap filling, and base excision repair patch removal.

Ref: NCBI Bookshelf, Molecular Biology of Escherichia coli, DNA Pol I domain structure and exonuclease activities