A while back someone asked for information about the minimum flanking
sequence needed for cleavage by restriction enzymes. The new catalog
from New England Biolabs ('90 - '91) has information for some commonly
used enzymes.
I don't have the time (or permission) to regurgitate the information,
but it can be found on p. 132 of the catalog.
The enzymes vary widely in their requirements. For example, EcoRI
cut the sequence gGAATTCc (one extra base on either side of the
recognition sequence) to >90% completion in a 2 hour incubation,
while PstI cut the sequence tgcaCTGCAGtgca (four extra bases) to
only 10% completion after a 20 hour incubation.
Jon Binkley
