Q.Write any three differences between exonuclease and endonuclease.
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Exonucleases trim DNA/RNA from its ends; endonucleases cut DNA/RNA at internal positions, often at a specific recognition sequence (as in restriction enzymes).
Both exonucleases and endonucleases are types of nuclease enzymes that hydrolyse the phosphodiester bonds of nucleic acids, but they differ in where and how they act:
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Site of action: Exonucleases remove nucleotides one at a time starting from the free 5' or 3' end of the DNA/RNA strand (i.e., they act on the terminal/end nucleotides only). Endonucleases, in contrast, make cuts at internal positions within the strand, away from the ends.
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Sequence specificity: Exonucleases generally act non-specifically on any exposed end. Endonucleases — particularly restriction endonucleases — usually recognise and cut DNA only at a specific, short palindromic base sequence (a 'recognition sequence', e.g. EcoRI cuts at GAATTC), making them highly sequence-specific.
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