Question

Discuss with your teacher and find out how to distinguish between Exonuclease and Endonuclease

Answer 1

1.Exonuclease causes the hydrolysis of a nucleotide at the ends where a free 3’ or 5’ hydroxyl group is present in the polynucleotide chain while the exonuclease does not require a free 3’ or 5’ hydroxyl group to cause hydrolysis of the polynucleotide chain.

2.Exonuclease activity results into nucleosides while endonuclease activity results in oligonucleotides.

3.The exonuclease’s activity results in the small units of the polynucleotide chain almost immediately while endonuclease activity undergoes a lag phase before releasing oligonucleotide groups.

4.Snake venom and spleen phosphodiesterase are examples of exonucleases while deoxyribonuclease I and II are examples of endonucleases.