Ribonuclease H

Ribonuclease H (RNase H) is a family of non-sequence-specific endonucleases that catalyze the cleavage of RNA via a hydrolytic mechanism. Members of the RNase H family can be found in nearly all organisms, from bacteria to archaea to eukaryotes.

RNase H’s ribonuclease activity cleaves the 3’-O-P bond of RNA in a DNA/RNA duplex substrate to produce 3’-hydroxyl and 5‘-phosphate terminated products. In DNA replication, RNase H is responsible for removing the RNA primer, allowing completion of the newly synthesized DNA.