Exonuclease III (Exo III) is an exodeoxyribonuclease that digests one strand of duplex DNA from a blunt end, 5′ overhang or nick. The enzyme acts in a 3′→5′ direction producing stretches of single-stranded DNA (1, 2). Exo III is not active on 3′ overhangs of 4 or more bases in length and ssDNA. The enzyme has also RNase H, 3′-DNA phosphatase, and apurinic DNA endonuclease activities. Exo III digestions proceed at a uniform rate yielding predictable and reproducible results. However, the observed rate of nucleotide excision can vary depending on the individual characteristics of the reaction mix such as reaction temperature, ionic strength, template base content, template helical structure, and enzyme-to-DNA ratios (3-5).Applications• 3′ → 5′ exonuclease• Production of unidirectional nested deletions• Production of intermediates for site-directed mutagenesis• Preparation of strand-specific probes• Preparation of single-stranded substrates for dideoxy sequencing