![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/PDB_1ktq_EBI.jpg/640px-PDB_1ktq_EBI.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Taq polymerase
Thermostable form of DNA polymerase I used in polymerase chain reaction / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Taq polymerase?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
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.[1] Its name is often abbreviated to Taq or Taq pol. It is frequently used in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a method for greatly amplifying the quantity of short segments of DNA.
DNA polymerase I, thermostable | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Large (Klenow) fragment of Taq polA, containing the polA and vestigial domains | |||||||
Identifiers | |||||||
Organism | Thermus aquaticus | ||||||
Symbol | polA | ||||||
UniProt | P19821 | ||||||
|
T. aquaticus is a bacterium that lives in hot springs and hydrothermal vents, and Taq polymerase was identified[1] as an enzyme able to withstand the protein-denaturing conditions (high temperature) required during PCR.[2] Therefore, it replaced the DNA polymerase from E. coli originally used in PCR.[3]