Ribonuclease and deoxyribonuclease activity of exonuclease A5.

A comparative study was made of the specificity and some properties of the RNase and DNase activities of exonuclease A5. The results obtained indicate that RNA and denatured DNA are hydrolyzed in the same active center of the enzyme and, consequently, exonuclease A5 is an enzyme which is not specific for the sugar of nucleic acids. The data reported are important when exonuclease A5 is used as a specific reagent in investigations of nucleic acids.