Question

How and why is bacterium thermus aquaticus employed in recombinant DNA technology? Explain.

Answer 1

Hint: The scientific name for a bacterium that grows in warm springs is Thermus aquaticus. At 160 degrees Fahrenheit, which is 30 degrees hotter than what people thought at the time was the limit for survival, this single-celled organism lives best. Not only does Thermus aquaticus grow at extremely high temperatures, but it is also very mature.

Complete answer:
The heat-stable DNA polymerase isolated from thermophilic bacteria Thermus aquaticus is denoted by Taq polymerase. It is used in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique, an extremely important method of amplifying complex DNA sequences, to automate repetitive steps. The polymerase chain reaction in the test tube will multiply DNA molecules up to a billion-fold, generating large quantities of unique genes for multiple applications. The steps in PCR amplification are as follows: DNA incubation with an excess of unique primers of the selected gene, DNA polymerase extends the primers using the target strands as templates, the mixture is heated to separate the DNA strands after incubation and cooled to allow the primers to hybridize with newly synthesized DNA complementary regions, and finally, the operation is repeated.
PCR is an exponential amplification technology for a fragment of DNA. A single molecule is the maximum of its sensitivity, rendering PCR a superb qualitative method for the precise detection of unusual DNA sequences. The yield of amplified DNA under proper conditions is proportional to the initial number of target molecules, making it a quantitative analytical method as well. In basic biological science, biotechnology, clinical research, clinical diagnostics, forensics, food technology, environmental monitoring, archaeology and anthropology, and other areas, PCR has developed into an assemblage of diverse methodologies used almost universally. While other technologies for nucleic acid amplification have been identified, PCR remains by far the most widely used.
Bacterium Thermus aquaticus is a heat-labile bacteria collected from hot springs at temperatures greater than 97 degrees Celsius. Even at high temperatures, this bacterium is active and results in the denaturation of double-stranded DNA. These enzymes are commonly used primarily in PCR (polymerase chain reaction) in recombinant DNA technology. These Taq polymerase enzymes in PCR help to gain better recombinants in the amplification of desired DNA.

Note:
Using the nucleotides given in the reaction and genomic DNA as the template, this enzyme extends the primers. This enzyme achieves repeated amplification and, if needed, the amplified fragment can be used to bind to a vector for further cloning.