Figure 4. Effects of Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, combined Ca²⁺+Mg²⁺, ionic strength, and temperature on MAG_5040 nuclease activity.

The nuclease activity and stability under different tested conditions were evaluated by loading on a 1% agarose gel approximately 10 µl of each of the endpoint reactions. The far left lane of each panel was loaded with the molecular weight marker (MW). Both 1 Kb (left and central panels) and 1 Kb Plus (top and bottom right panels) DNA ladders were used (Invitrogen). In each panel, lanes designated C were loaded with untreated plasmid DNA in agarose loading buffer. Concentrations expressed in mM and temperatures in °C are indicated in the appropriate panels (Ca²⁺, top left panel; Mg²⁺, top middle panel; combined Ca²⁺+Mg²⁺, top right panel; ionic strength, bottom left and middle panels; and temperature, bottom right panel).