TaKaRa Ex Taq DNA Polymerase combines the proven performance of Takara Taq polymerase with the proofreading activity of an efficient 3"-to-5" exonuclease, for high-sensitivity, high-efficiency PCR reactions. It can also be used for long-range PCR (up to 20 kb from genomic DNA templates and up to 30 kb from lambda DNA templates). Ex Taq polymerase has a higher fidelity than standard Taq with a mutation rate approximately 4.5 times lower, as determined by the Kunkel method. Ex Taq polymerase is supplied with optimized 10X buffer (with or without Mg²⁺) and dNTPs.

In routine PCR applications, using Ex Taq polymerase and the Ex Taq buffer system results in higher yields of PCR products as compared to standard Taq DNA polymerase.

Several other formats of Ex Taq are available:

• An antibody-mediated hot-start version—for preventing non-specific amplification from mispriming during reaction setup.
• A 2X PCR master mix contains Ex Taq enzyme, reaction buffer (with Mg²⁺), and dNTPs—for a simple PCR setup and minimal pipetting steps. A loading-dye added versions, PerfectShotEx Taq DNA Polymerase, is also available for convenient loading of PCR products in agarose gels directly.