Benzonase^® Nuclease

Benzonase^® nuclease is a highly efficient and genetically engineered endonuclease that originates from Serratia marcescens. This dimeric protein with two essential disulfide bonds is capable of attacking and degrading all forms of DNA and RNA (single stranded, double stranded, linear and circular) under a wide range of operating conditions. It can completely digest nucleic acids into 5′- monophosphate terminated oligonucleotides of 3 to 5 bases in length, making it the ideal tool for removing nucleic acids from recombinant proteins and for applications that require complete digestion of nucleic acids. In addition to reducing viscosity in protein extracts and preventing cell clumping, pretreatment of protein samples with Benzonase^® nuclease can significantly improve their resolution on 2D gel electrophoresis by eliminating any bound nucleic acids. This versatile enzyme can digest both native or heat-denatured DNA and RNA, with its optimum pH for enzyme activity found to be 8.0-9.2. Choose Benzonase^® nuclease for its capabilities in removing nucleic acids and enhancing the purity and quality of protein samples.

Benzonase nuclease, derived from Serratia marcescens, is an effective endonuclease that can efficiently degrade all types of DNA and RNA without any proteolytic activity. This useful enzyme has various applications in protein extraction, microbiome research, and bioprocessing. Benzonase nuclease from Sigma can be utilized to prevent cell clumping during chimeric cell mixtures preparation and for the extraction of nuclear proteins intimately associated with DNA. It is also an ideal solution for effectively removing nucleic acids from protein samples. Additionally, Benzonase nuclease is an essential tool for microbiome research as it can effectively deplete host DNA in microbiome samples. Use Benzonase nuclease for your protein extraction, microbiome research, and bioprocessing needs.

Used for the removal of nucleic acid from protein samples.

Benzonase^® is a genetically engineered endonuclease from Serratia marcescens. The protein is a dimer of 30 kDa subunits with two essential disulfide bonds. This endonuclease attacks and degrades all forms of DNA and RNA (single stranded, double stranded, linear and circular) and is effective over a wide range of operating conditions. The optimum pH for enzyme activity is found to be 8.0-9.2. It completely digests nucleic acids to 5′- monophosphate terminated oligonucleotides 3 to 5 bases in length. This is ideal for removal of nucleic acids from recombinant proteins and for applications where complete digestion of nucleic acids is desirable. It also reduces viscosity in protein extracts and prevents cell clumping. Pre-treatment of a protein sample improves its resolution on 2D gel electrophoresis by eliminating any bound nucleic acids. Benzonase^® nuclease is effective at removing host DNA from microbiome samples. In many cases, microbiome samples (such as saliva or skin) will have a high percentage of host DNA that interferes with downstream results. Our experts show that reduction of host DNA lowers the cost of sequencing while increasing and improving the data. Experimental data is shown in the technical article - Benzonase^® Nuclease for Microbiome Workflows

Digests native or heat-denatured DNA and RNA.

Host DNA depletion in microbiome samples

Effective nucleic acid digestion in variety of workflows

Viscosity reduction during protein extraction

One unit will digest sonicated salmon sperm DNA to acid-soluble oligonucleotides equivalent to a ΔA₂₆₀ of 1.0 in 30 min at pH 8.0 at 37 °C (reaction volume 2.625 ml).

Solution in 50% glycerol containing 20 mM Tris HCl, pH 8.0, 2 mM MgCl₂, and 20 mM NaCl.

Benzonase^® Nuclease is supplied by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and/or its affiliates.

Benzonase is a registered trademark of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany