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IMMOLASE™ DNA Polymerase FAQs

  1. Which polymerase do I need for my specific application?
  2. What are the storage conditions and stabilities of Bioline polymerases?
  3. I am having problems optimizing my PCR, what would you recommend?
  4. What do the terms yield, fidelity, processivity and specificity actually mean?
  5. What is a proofreading polymerase?
  6. What are the error rates of Bioline’s DNA Polymerases?
  7. How is one unit of activity of a polymerase defined?
  8. What are the benefits of using a hot-start polymerase?
  9. What is the heat activation time required for this polymerase?
  10. Which specific applications is IMMOLASE DNA Polymerase suited to?
  11. What are the features of IMMOLASE DNA Polymerase?


1. Which polymerase do I need for my specific application?
At Bioline we pride ourselves in supplying high-quality polymerases to suit your requirements. To aid your selection of the most suited enzyme for your specific applications, please see our polymerase selection guide.

2. What are the storage conditions and stabilities of Bioline polymerases?
All our polymerases are guaranteed for a period of 12 months from the date of purchase. These should be stored at
-20°C during this time for optimal retention of activity.
Please Note: We do not recommend the storage of our polymerases at -80°C as ice crystals could form on the active site, which may affect or destroy the activity of the enzyme.

3. I am having problems optimizing my PCR, what would you recommend?
PCR can be a challenging technique, with various parameters to optimize to achieve the best results. If you are having problems, these could be easily resolved by addressing a few issues. Please see our PCR troubleshooting guide for suggestions and help with your specific problems.

4. What do the terms yield, fidelity, processivity and specificity actually mean?

  • Yield: The amount of DNA produced in a PCR reaction
  • Fidelity: The accuracy of the enzyme at incorporating the correct dNTP to the elongating DNA strand.
  • Processivity: The length of time a polymerase is associated with the template, and therefore the size of fragment which can be amplified.
  • Specificity: A measure of the unwanted by-products generated in a reaction.

5. What is a proofreading polymerase?
In nature, the ability of a DNA polymerase to correct misincorporations of nucleotides in the DNA strand being elongated is often crucial to the survival of the host organism. This ability is termed “proofreading activity”, and occurs in the 3’ to 5’ direction. This activity also leads to the polymerase removing unpaired nucleotides overhanging at the 3’end (A-overhangs), creating blunt ends.

6. What are the error rates of Bioline’s DNA Polymerases?
Please see the following table for the appropriate error rates:

BIOLASE, IMMOLASE, Mango Taq, MyTaq DNA Polymerase , Taq DNA Polymerase.  1.1 x 104 base substitutions/bp (Tindall and Kunkel, 1988)
 2.4 x 105 frameshift mutations/bp (Tindall and Kunkel, 1988)
 2.1 x 104 errors/bp (Keohavang and Thilly, 1989)
 7.2 x 105 errors/bp (Ling et al., 1991)
 8.9 x 105 errors/bp (Cariello et al., 1991)
 2.0 x 105 errors/bp (Lundberg et al., 1991)
 1.1 x 104 errors/bp (Barnes, 1992)
ACCUZYME  1.6 x 106 errors/base (Lundberg et al., 1991).
VELOCITY  4.4 x 10-7 errors/base (Frey & Suppmann, 1995).

7. How is one unit of activity of a polymerase defined?
One unit is defined as the amount of enzyme that incorporates 10nmoles of dNTPs into acid- insoluble form in 30 minutes at 72°C.

8. What are the benefits of using a hot-start polymerase?
During PCR setup at room temperature, standard polymerases will have some activity. When using a hot-start polymerase, this enzyme will have no activity at room temperature, thus reducing the risk of unspecific products in the reaction due to these mis-primed oligonucleotides. This feature makes this type of polymerase ideally suited to high-throughput applications, where the reactions may be left sitting at room temperature for prolonged periods of time.

9. What is the heat activation time required for this polymerase?
IMMOLASE DNA Polymerase requires a heat-activation step of 10 minutes at 95°C.

10. Which specific applications is IMMOLASE DNA Polymerase suited to?
As well as most standard applications, IMMOLASE DNA Polymerase is ideally suited to the following:

  • High-throughput applications
  • Multiplex PCR
  • Real-Time applications
  • TA Cloning (leaves A Overhang)

11. What are the features of IMMOLASE DNA Polymerase?
The features of IMMOLASE DNA Polymerase are as follows:

  • Heat Activation: 10 minutes at 95°C
  • Speed: 15-30s/Kb (template dependant)
  • Length amplified: Around 5Kb (genomic DNA)
  • Optimal Extension Temperature: 72°C
   
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