Serratia marcescens produces an endonuclease with extraordinarily high
specific activity that is released into the surrounding medium. This
enzyme has been the focus of studies on gene regulation, protein secre
tion, endonuclease action, and protein structure; it has also been fou
nd to have many applications in biotechnology. Here we briefly review
these different facets of research regarding the Serratia nuclease and
summarize the current state of knowledge about this enzyme. (C) 1998
Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevie
r Science B.V. All rights reserved.