InterPro domain: IPR020821

A family of bacterial and eukaryotic endonucleases 3.1.30 share the following characteristics: they act on both DNA and RNA, cleave double-stranded and single-stranded nucleic acids and require a divalent ion such as magnesium for their activity. A histidine has been shown [ 1 ] to be essential for the activity of the Serratia marcescens nuclease. This residue is located in a conserved region which also contains an aspartic acid residue that could be implicated in the binding of the divalent ion.

1. Identification of catalytically relevant amino acids of the extracellular Serratia marcescens endonuclease by alignment-guided mutagenesis. Nucleic Acids Res. 22, 3280-7