Question

Explain with the help of a suitable example the naming of a restriction endonuclease.

Answer 1

Restriction endonucleases are named as follows:

$1^{st}$ alphabet represents the genus of the organism from which the enzyme is isolated.
$2^{nd}$ and $3^{rd}$ alphabet represents the species of the organism.

$4^{th}$ alphabet represents the strain.

The roman number represents the order of isolation or discovery of the enzyme.

For example, EcoRI is the restriction enzyme, derived from Escherichia coli, strain R and is the first to be isolated.