• About Fermentas

    Fermentas – a Global Leader in Molecular Biology Products

    We are part of Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science. For over 35 years, Fermentas had been a world leader in the discovery, manufacturing and marketing of quality molecular biology products. In July of 2010, Fermentas became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Thermo Fisher Scientific. In September of 2012, the new Molecular Biology Center of Excellence was opened in Vilnius. The new facilities provide molecular, protein and cellular biology products to better serve growing demand from life sciences customers globally. The 156,000-square-foot Molecular Biology Center of Excellence is currently home to more than 400 research, laboratory and manufacturing personnel, with room for expansion.

    History

    In 1975, the All-Union Research Institute of Applied Enzymology was established in Vilnius, Lithuania. The first restriction enzyme (BcnI) was commercially manufactured in 1978. One year later, Fermentas scientists discovered the first restriction enzyme (CfrI). In 1985, the first restriction enzyme (Eco47ll) was cloned. In 2011, the world's first genetically-engineered restriction enzyme (Eco57MI) was created, and the world's first genetically-engineered DNA nicking enzyme (N.Bpu101) was created. During the 35-year history, Fermentas scientists have discovered approximately 30% of all known restriction enzymes. In 2006, Fermentas introduced FastDigest restriction enzymes – the new standard for DNA digestion.

    In 1996, Fermentas became one of the first manufacturers of molecular biology products to implement a ISO 9002 quality management system. The same year, PureExtreme – the highest product quality and performance standards – were introduced. Since 2006, all products of enterprise carry this standard. In 2003, the Fermentas environmental protection management system was certified under ISO 14001. Since 2007, all Fermentas products are manufactured in class D clean room facilities, qualified and certified as per EU directives and ISPE guidelines, which are prerequisites for GMP manufacturing. In 2010, Fermentas has implemented a quality management system in compliance with ISO 13485 for research, development and manufacturing of diagnostic medical devices.

    Key Technologies
    • Purification of native and recombinant proteins.
    • Plasmid DNA preparation (pharmaceutical grade meeting FDA and EU guidelines, transfection grade & research grade).
    • RNA production and purification.
    • Process development.
    • Protein, DNA and RNA ladders.
    • in vitro protein evolution (reverse transcriptases and DNA polymerases).
    • Pilot-scale fermentation & production of biomass.
    • Processing of nucleic acids by enzymes.

    Key Publications

    Petrusyte M, Janulaitis A.
    Isolation and some properties of the restriction endonuclease BcnI from Bacillus centrosporus.
    Eur J Biochem. 1982 Jan;121(2):377-81.

    Janulaitis AA, Petrusyte MA, Jaskelavicene BP, Krayev AS, Skryabin KG, Bayev AA.
    A new restriction endonuclease BcnI from Bacillus centrosporus RFL 1.
    FEBS Lett. 1982 Jan 25;137(2):178-80.

    Janulaitis AA, Stakenas PS, Lebedenko EN, Berlin YuA.
    A new restriction endonuclease from Citrobacter freundii.
    Nucleic Acids Res. 1982 Oct 25;10(20):6521-30.

    Janulaitis A, Klimasauskas S, Petrusyte M, Butkus V.
    Cytosine modification in DNA by BcnI methylase yields N4-methylcytosine.
    FEBS Lett. 1983 Sep 5;161(1):131-4.

    Janulaitis A, Kazlauskiene R, Lazareviciute L, Gilvonauskaite R, Steponaviciene D, Jagelavicius M, Petrusyte M, Bitinaite J, Vezeviciute Z, Kiuduliene E.
    Taxonomic specificity of restriction-modification enzymes.
    Gene. 1988 Dec 25;74(1):229-32.

    Kulakauskas S, Lubys A, Ehrlich SD.
    DNA restriction-modification systems mediate plasmid maintenance.
    J Bacteriol. 1995, 177:3451-4.

    Stankevicius K, Povilionis P, Lubys A, Menkevicius S, Janulaitis A.
    Cloning and characterization of the unusual restriction-modification system comprising two restriction endonucleases and one methyltransferase.
    Gene. 1995, 19;157:49-53.

    Siksnys V, Timinskas A, Klimasauskas S, Butkus V, Janulaitis A.
    Sequence similarity among type-II restriction endonucleases, related by their recognized 6-bp target and tetranucleotide-overhang cleavage.
    Gene. 1995, 19;157:311-4.

    Lubys A, Janulaitis A.
    Cloning and analysis of the plasmid-borne genes encoding the Bsp6I restriction and modification enzymes.
    Gene. 1995, 19;157:25-9.

    Lubys A, Lubienè J, Kulakauskas S, Stankevicius K, Timinskas A, Janulaitis A.
    Cloning and analysis of the genes encoding the type IIS restriction-modification system HphI from Haemophilus parahaemolyticus.
    Nucleic Acids Res. 1996, 15;24:2760-6.

    Vitkute J, Maneliene Z, Petrusyte M, Janulaitis A.
    BplI, a new BcgI-like restriction endonuclease, which recognizes a symmetric sequence.
    Nucleic Acids Res. 1997, 15;25:4444-6.

    Lagunavicius A, Grazulis S, Balciunaite E, Vainius D, Siksnys V.
    DNA binding specificity of MunI restriction endonuclease is controlled by pH and calcium ions: involvement of active site carboxylate residues.
    Biochemistry. 1997, 16;36:11093-9.

    Lagunavicius A, Siksnys V.
    Site-directed mutagenesis of putative active site residues of MunI restriction endonuclease: replacement of catalytically essential carboxylate residues triggers DNA binding specificity.
    Biochemistry. 1997, 16;36:11086-92.

    Skirgaila R, Grazulis S, Bozic D, Huber R, Siksnys V.
    Structure-based redesign of the catalytic/metal binding site of Cfr10I restriction endonuclease reveals importance of spatial rather than sequence conservation of active centre residues.
    J Mol Biol. 1998, 5;279:473-81.

    Skirgaila R, Siksnys V.
    Ca2+-ions stimulate DNA binding specificity of Cfr10I restriction enzyme.
    Biol Chem. 1998, 379(4-5):595-8.

    Vitkute J, Maneliene Z, Janulaitis A.
    AbeI, a restriction endonuclease from Azotobacter beijerinckii, which recognizes the asymmetric heptanucleotide sequence 5'-CCTCAGC-3'(-5/-2).
    Nucleic Acids Res. 1998, 1;26:4917-8.

    Vitkute J, Maneliene Z, Petrusyte M, Janulaitis A.
    BfiI, a restriction endonuclease from Bacillus firmus S8120, which recognizes the novel non-palindromic sequence 5'-ACTGGG(N)5/4-3'.
    Nucleic Acids Res. 1998, 15;26:3348-9.

    Lubys A, Jurenaite S, Janulaitis A.
    Structural organization and regulation of the plasmid-borne type II restriction-modification system Kpn2I from Klebsiella pneumoniae RFL2.
    Nucleic Acids Res. 1999, 1;27:4228-34.

    Steponaviciene D, Maneliene Z, Petrusyte M, Janulaitis A.
    BseSI, a restriction endonuclease from Bacillus stearothermophilus Jo 10-553, which recognizes the novel hexanucleotide sequence 5'-G(G/T)GC(A/C)C-3'.
    Nucleic Acids Res. 1999, 1; 27:2644-5.

    Siksnys V, Skirgaila R, Sasnauskas G, Urbanke C, Cherny D, Grazulis S, Huber R.
    The Cfr10I restriction enzyme is functional as a tetramer.
    J Mol Biol. 1999, 3;291:1105-18.

    Sapranauskas R, Sasnauskas G, Lagunavicius A, Vilkaitis G, Lubys A, Siksnys V.
    Novel subtype of type IIs restriction enzymes. BfiI endonuclease exhibits similarities to the EDTA-resistant nuclease Nuc of Salmonella typhimurium.
    J Biol Chem. 2000, 6;275:30878-85.

    Kesminiene A, Maneliene Z, Vitkute J, Petrusyte M, Janulaitis A.
    A unique type II restriction endonuclease FspAI, that recognizes the octanucleotide sequence 5'-RTGC/GCAY-3'.
    Nucleic Acids Res. 2001, 15;29:E120.

    Vitkute J, Maneliene Z, Janulaitis A.
    Two new thermostable type II restriction endonucleases from Thermus aquaticus: TatI and TauI, which recognize the novel nucleotide sequences 5'-W (downward arrow)GTACW-3' and 5'-GCSG (downward arrow)C-3' respectively.
    FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2001, 13;204:253-7.

    Cesnaviciene E, Petrusyte M, Kazlauskiene R, Maneliene Z, Timinskas A, Lubys A, Janulaitis A.
    Characterization of AloI, a restriction-modification system of a new type.
    J Mol Biol. 2001, 23;314:205-16.

    Padegimiene E, Maneliene Z, Petrusyte M, Janulaitis A.
    OliI, a unique restriction endonuclease that recognizes the discontinuous sequence 5'-CACNN NGTG-3'.
    Nucleic Acids Res. 2001, 15;29:E30.

    Jurenaite-Urbanaviciene S, Kazlauskiene R, Urbelyte V, Maneliene Z, Petrusyte M, Lubys A, Janulaitis A.
    Characterization of BseMII, a new type IV restriction-modification system, which recognizes the pentanucleotide sequence 5'-CTCAG(N)(10/8)/.
    Nucleic Acids Res. 2001,15;29:895-903.

    Vitkute J, Stankevicius K, Tamulaitiene G, Maneliene Z, Timinskas A, Berg DE, Janulaitis A.
    Specificities of eleven different DNA methyltransferases of Helicobacter pylori strain 26695.
    J Bacteriol. 2001, 183:443-50.

    Rimseliene R, Janulaitis A.
    Mutational analysis of two putative catalytic motifs of the type IV restriction endonuclease Eco57I.
    J Biol Chem. 2001, 30;276:10492-7.

    Grigaite R, Maneliene Z, Janulaitis A.
    AarI, a restriction endonuclease from Arthrobacter aurescens SS2-322, which recognizes the novel non-palindromic sequence 5'-CACCTGC(N)4/8-3'.
    Nucleic Acids Res. 2002, 1;30:e123.

    Gaigalas M, Maneliene Z, Kazlauskiene R, Petrusyte M, Janulaitis A.
    PfoI, a unique type II restriction endonuclease that recognises the sequence 5'-T downward arrow CCNGGA-3'.
    Nucleic Acids Res. 2002, 1;30:e98.

    Bitinaite J, Mitkaite G, Dauksaite V, Jakubauskas A, Timinskas A, Vaisvila R, Lubys A, Janulaitis A.
    Evolutionary relationship of Alw26I, Eco31I and Esp3I, restriction endonucleases that recognise overlapping sequences.
    Mol Genet Genomics. 2002, 267:664-72.

    Vilkaitis G, Lubys A, Merkiene E, Timinskas A, Janulaitis A, Klimasauskas S.
    Circular permutation of DNA cytosine-N4 methyltransferases: in vivo coexistence in the BcnI system and in vitro probing by hybrid formation.
    Nucleic Acids Res. 2002, 1;30:1547-57.

    Roberts RJ, Belfort M, Bestor T, Bhagwat AS, Bickle TA, Bitinaite J, Blumenthal RM, Degtyarev SKh, Dryden DT, Dybvig K, Firman K, Gromova ES, Gumport RI, Halford SE, Hattman S, Heitman J, Hornby DP, Janulaitis A, Jeltsch A, Josephsen J, Kiss A, Klaenhammer TR, Kobayashi I, Kong H, Krüger DH, Lacks S, Marinus MG, Miyahara M, Morgan RD, Murray NE, Nagaraja V, Piekarowicz A, Pingoud A, Raleigh E, Rao DN, Reich N, Repin VE, Selker EU, Shaw PC, Stein DC, Stoddard BL, Szybalski W, Trautner TA, Van Etten JL, Vitor JM, Wilson GG, Xu SY.
    A nomenclature for restriction enzymes, DNA methyltransferases, homing endonucleases and their genes.
    Nucleic Acids Res. 2003, 1;31:1805-12.

    Rimseliene R, Maneliene Z, Lubys A, Janulaitis A.
    Engineering of restriction endonucleases: using methylation activity of the bifunctional endonuclease Eco57I to select the mutant with a novel sequence specificity.
    J Mol Biol. 2003, 21;327:383-91.

    Lagunavicius A, Sasnauskas G, Halford SE, Siksnys V.
    The metal-independent type IIs restriction enzyme BfiI is a dimer that binds two DNA sites but has only one catalytic centre.
    J Mol Biol. 2003, 28;326:1051-64.

    Cesnaviciene E, Mitkaite G, Stankevicius K, Janulaitis A, Lubys A.
    Esp1396I restriction-modification system: structural organization and mode of regulation.
    Nucleic Acids Res. 2003, 15;31:743-9.

    Földesi A, Keller A, Stura A, Zigmantas S, Kwiatkowski M, Knapp D, Engels JW.
    The fluoride cleavable 2-(cyanoethoxy)methyl (CEM) group as reversible 3'-O-terminator for DNA sequencing-by-synthesis - synthesis, incorporation, and cleavage.
    Nucleosides Nucleotides Nucleic Acids. 2007, 26:271-5.

    Knapp, D.C., Keller, A., D'Onofrio, J., Lubys, A., Serva, S., Kurg, A., Remm, M., Kwiatkowski, M., Engels, J.W.
    Synthesis of four colors fluorescently labelled 3'-O-blocked nucleotides with fluoride cleavable blocking group and linker for array based Sequencing-by-Synthesis applications.
    Nucleic Acids Symp. Ser. (Oxf). 2008, v. 52, 345-346.

    Lagunavicius A, Kiveryte Z., Zimbaite-Ruskuliene, V, Radzvilavicius T & Janulaitis A.
    Duality of polynucleotide substrates for Phi29 DNA polymerase: 3’→5’ RNase activity of the enzyme.
    RNA. 2008, 14:503-13.

    Lagunavicius, A, Merkiene, E, Kiveryte, Z, Savaneviciute, A, Zimbaite-Ruskuliene, V, Radzvilavicius, T & Janulaitis, A.
    Novel application of Phi29 DNA polymerase: RNA detection and analysis in vitro and in situ by target RNA-primed RCA.
    RNA. 2009, 15:765-71.

    Gaidamaviciute, E., Tauraite, D., Gagilas, J. & Lagunavicius, A.
    Site-directed chemical modification of archaeal Thermococcus litoralis Sh1B DNA polymerase: Acquired ability to read through template-strand uracils.
    Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 2010, 1804: 1385-1393.

    Merkiene, E., Gaidamaviciute, E., Riauba, L., Janulaitis, A. & Lagunavicius, A.
    Direct detection of RNA in vitro and in situ by target-primed RCA: The impact of E.coli RNase III on the detection efficiency of RNA sequences distanced far from the 3'-end.
    RNA. 2010, 16: 1508-1515.

    Zaliauskiene, L., Bernadisiute, U., Vareikis, A., Makuska, R., Volungeviciene, I., Petuskaite, A., Riauba, L., Lagunavicius, A. & Zigmantas, S.
    Efficient gene transfection using novel cationic polymers poly(hydroxylalkylene imines).
    Bioconjug. Chem. 2010, 21: 1602-1611.

    Tubeleviciute A, Skirgaila R.
    Compartmentalized self-replication (CSR) selection of Thermococcus litoralis Sh1B DNA polymerase for diminished uracil binding
    Protein Eng Des Sel. 2010, 23(8):589-97.

    Šiurkus J, Panula-Perälä J, Horn U, Kraft M, Rimšeliene R, Neubauer P.
    Novel Approach of High Cell Density Recombinant Bioprocess Development: Optimization and Scale up from microlitre to pilot scales, with maintenance of fed-batch cultivation mode of E. coli Cultures.
    Microb Cell Fact. 2010, 9:35.

    Radzvilavicius, T. & Lagunavicius, A.
    Selective inactivation of M-MuLV RT RNase H activity by site-directed PEGylation: an improved ability to synthesize long cDNA molecules.
    N. Biotechnology 2012, 29(3):285-92.

    Knapp DC, Serva S, D'Onofrio J, Keller A, Lubys A, Kurg A, Remm M, Engels JW.
    Fluoride-cleavable, fluorescently labelled reversible terminators: synthesis and use in primer extension.
    Chemistry. 2011, 17(10):2903-15.

    Šiurkus J, Neubauer P. Reducing conditions are the key for efficient production of active ribonuclease inhibitor in Escherichia coli.
    Microb Cell Fact. 2011 May 10;10:31.

    Šiurkus J, Neubauer P.
    Heterologous production of active ribonuclease inhibitor in Escherichia coli by redox state control and chaperonin coexpression.
    Microb Cell Fact. 2011 Aug 8;10:65.

    Ukanis M., Sapranauskas R., Lubys A.
    Screening for catalytically active Type II restriction endonucleases using segregation-induced methylation deficiency.
    Nucleic Acids Res. 2012 Oct 1; 40(19): e149.

    Baranauskas A, Paliksa S, Alzbutas G, Vaitkevicius M, Lubiene J, Letukiene V, Burinskas S, Sasnauskas G, Skirgaila R.
    Generation and characterization of new highly thermostable and processive M-MuLV reverse transcriptase variants.
    Protein Eng Des Sel. 2012 Jun 12 2012 Oct;25(10):657-68.