EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -The use of a thermophilic DNA polymerase such as Taq polymerase prevents the denaturation of the enzyme during the heating step that is necessary to separate the newly synthesized strand – this subsequently simplifies the PCR technique and increases its efficiency.

Detailed explanation-2: -Taq polymerase has the important characteristic of being stable at temperatures up to 95°C2. That’s critical because this is the temperature at which DNA denatures – a required step at the beginning of the PCR reaction.

Detailed explanation-3: -Taq DNA polymerase is the most common enzyme used for PCR amplification. This enzyme is extremely heat resistant with a half-life of 40 minutes at 95°C. At its optimal temperature (72°C), nucleotides are incorporated at a rate of 2–4 kilobases per minute.

Detailed explanation-4: -Heat stable DNA Polymerase; heat stability is very important because PCR reaction is performed at various temperatures. This heat stable DNA polymerase is obtained from a thermophilic bacteria Thermus aquaticus, the inhabitant of hot springs. Hence, this DNA polymerase is termed as Taq DNA Polymerase.

Detailed explanation-5: -The DNA polymerase typically used in PCR is called Taq polymerase, after the heat-tolerant bacterium from which it was isolated (Thermus aquaticus). T. aquaticus lives in hot springs and hydrothermal vents.