Directed evolution of novel polymerases

DNA and RNA polymerases evolved to function in specific environments with specific substrates to propagate genetic information in all living organisms. The commercial availability of these polymerases has revolutionized the biotechnology industry, but for many applications native polymerases are lim...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biomolecular engineering 2005-06, Vol.22 (1), p.39-49
Main Authors: Holmberg, Rebecca C., Henry, Allison A., Romesberg, Floyd E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biotechnology - methods
Directed evolution
Directed Molecular Evolution - methods
DNA
DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase - chemistry
DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase - genetics
DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases - chemistry
DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases - genetics
Humans
Polymerase
RNA
Substrate Specificity - genetics
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:DNA and RNA polymerases evolved to function in specific environments with specific substrates to propagate genetic information in all living organisms. The commercial availability of these polymerases has revolutionized the biotechnology industry, but for many applications native polymerases are limited by their stability or substrate recognition. Thus, there is great interest in the directed evolution of DNA and RNA polymerases to generate enzymes with novel, desired properties, such as thermal stability, resistance to inhibitors, and altered substrate specificity. Several screening and selection approaches have been developed, both in vivo and in vitro, and have been used to evolve polymerases with a variety of important activities. Both the techniques and the evolved polymerases are reviewed here, along with a comparison of the in vivo and in vitro approaches.
ISSN:1389-0344
1878-559X
DOI:10.1016/j.bioeng.2004.12.001