User:Gulnara Gareeva/sandbox

At 75-80°C, Taq reaches its optimal polymerization rate of about 150 nucleotides per second per enzyme molecule, and any deviations from the optimal temperature range inhibit the extension rate of the enzyme. A single Taq synthesizes about 60 nucleotides per second at 70°C, 24 nucleotides/sec at 55°C, 1.5 nucleotides/sec at 37°C, and 0.25 nucleotides/sec at 22°C. At temperatures above 90°C, Taq demonstrates very little or no activity at all, but the enzyme itself does not denature and remains intact. Presence of certain ions in the reaction vessel also affects specific activity of the enzyme. Small amounts of potassium chloride (KCl) and magnesium ion (Mg2+) promote Taq 's enzymatic activity. Taq polymerase is maximally activated at 50mM KCl and just the right concentration of Mg2+ which is determined by the concentration of nucleoside triphosphates (dNTPs). High concentrations of KCl and Mg2+ inhibit Taq 's activity.

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) cannot be used to amplify the entire genome, but is very helpful to obtain millions of copies of a particular DNA sequence.