Isolation and partial characterization of BstVI, a thermostable isoschizomer of XhoI.

A type II restriction endonuclease, which has been named BstVI, was isolated and partially purified from a spore-forming, gram-positive thermophilic bacilli. On the basis of its digestion patterns on various DNA's, it was concluded that this enzyme is an isoschizomer of XhoI, isolated originally from Xanthomonas holcicola. Besides being highly thermostable, the enzyme is produced in very large amounts by this bacterial strain. A single purification step renders it free of unspecific nucleases and suitable for performing restriction analysis and cloning experiments.