Inactivation and residual activity of restriction enzymes

Restriction enzymes are commonly inactivated by a heat treatment after digestion is complete. However, heat tolerance varies between enzymes, and in some cases is insufficient to completely inactivate particular restriction enzymes. Therefore, we have tested four types of inactivation treatment to determine the best conditions for complete inactivation of each enzyme:

  1. Heating at 60°C for 15 minutes
  2. Heating at 70°C for 15 minutes
  3. Ethanol precipitation
  4. Phenol extraction

These tables list enzymes and their residual activity following each inactivation procedure.

Restriction
Enzyme
60°C 
15 min
70°C
15 min
Ethanol
Precipitation
Phenol
Extraction
Aat II + NT
Acc I + NT
Acc II + + NT
Acc III NT NT
Afa I + +
Afl II
Alu I NT +
Aor13H I NT + +
Aor51H I NT NT
Apa I NT NT
ApaL I + NT
Ava II + +
Avi II + +
Bal I
BamH I + +
Ban II NT NT
Bcn I + + NT
Bgl I NT +
Bgl II + +
Bln I + +
Bpu1102 I + + +
Bsp1286 I NT NT
Bsp1407 I + +
BspT107 I NT NT
BssH II + NT
BstP I NT + NT
BstX I NT NT
Bst1107 I + + +
Cfr10 I + + +
Cfr13 I NT NT
Cla I +
Cpo I NT NT
Dra I NT NT
Dde I +
Eae I NT NT
EcoO109 I NT NT
EcoO65 I + +
EcoR I NT NT
EcoR V + +
EcoT14 I NT NT
EcoT22 I NT NT
Eco52 I NT +
Eco81 I + NT
Fba I + + NT
Fok I NT +
Fse I NT NT
Hae II
Hae III + NT
Hap II + +
Restriction
Enzyme
60°C 
15 min
70°C
15 min
Ethanol
Precipitation
Phenol
Extraction
Hha I +
Hinc II + NT
Hind III + NT
Hinf I + NT
Hin1 I NT +
Hpa I NT NT
Kpn I NT NT
Mbo I + NT
Mbo II + NT
Mfl I + + +
Mlu I + + NT
Msp I NT +
Mun I + +
Nae I NT NT
Nco I + +
Nde I
Nhe I + NT
Not I +
Nru I NT +
PmaC I NT NT
PshA I NT NT
PshB I + NT
Psp1406 I NT +
Pvu I
Pvu II + + +
Sac I NT NT
Sac II + +
Sal I
Sau3A I + NT
Sca I NT NT
Sfi I + +
Sma I NT +
SnaB I NT NT
Spe I NT NT
Sph I NT NT
Sse8387 I NT NT
Ssp I NT NT
Stu I NT +
Taq I NT + +
Tth 111 I NT + NT
Van91 I NT +
VpaK11B I NT NT
Xba I
Xho I + +
Xsp I + + +


"+" indicates residual activity remaining, "–" indicates no residual activity, and "NT" indicates not tested