Taq DNA Polymerase is a highly thermostable recombinant DNA polymerase derived from the thermophile Thermus aquaticus. The molecular weight of the recombinant protein is 94 kD. The Taq Polymerase is able to amplify DNA up to 5 kb with an elongation velocity of 0,9 to 1,2 kb/min at 70 to 75 °C. The error rate of this Taq Polymerase is ~2,2×10⁻⁵ nucleotide⁻¹ cycle⁻¹. Taq DNA polymerase catalyses the 5’→3’ synthesis of DNA. The enzyme has no detectable 3’→5’ proofreading exonuclease activity, and possesses low 5’→3’ exonuclease activity, which results in a 3’-dA overhang on the PCR product

Taq DNA Polymerase MasterMix (2X) is a premixed, ready to use solution containing Taq DNA Polymerase, dNTPs, Mg²⁺ and Reaction Buffer at optimal concentrations for efficient amplification of DNA templates by PCR. To prepare the final PCR, only primers and template DNA are added. This pre-mixed formulation saves time and reduces contamination due to the fewer pipetting steps required for PCR set up. The mix retains all features of Taq DNA Polymerase.

Unit definition: One unit (U) of Taq Polymerase is defined as the amount of enzyme needed to catalyse the incorporation of 10 nanomoles of deoxyribonucleotides into acid-insoluble material in 30 minutes at 70 °C using herring sperm DNA as a substrate.