AUTHOR=Barnes Wayne M. , Zhang Zhian , Kermekchiev Milko B. TITLE=A Single Amino Acid Change to Taq DNA Polymerase Enables Faster PCR, Reverse Transcription and Strand-Displacement JOURNAL=Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology VOLUME=8 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/bioengineering-and-biotechnology/articles/10.3389/fbioe.2020.553474 DOI=10.3389/fbioe.2020.553474 ISSN=2296-4185 ABSTRACT=

A change of an aspartic acid to asparagine of Taq (Thermus aquaticus) DNA polymerase is a gain of function mutation that supports faster PCR: the extension times for PCR amplification can be 2–3 times shorter. Surprising results from negative controls led to the discovery of strand-displacement ability and reverse transcriptase activity of Taq D732N DNA polymerase. We demonstrate that the mutant enzyme can, by itself, catalyze RT-PCR, and RT-LAMP assays. Residue 732 is on the surface of the enzyme, not near the active site.