Tobacco etch virus protease retains its activity in various buffers and in the presence of diverse additives

► A synthetic TEV gene with a codon pattern to match Escherichia coli was over-expressed. ► rTEV exhibited high activity in elution buffers used in affinity chromatography. ► rTEV retained high activity in the presence of additives used in protein purification. ► rTEV tolerated high concentration of denaturants and reducing agents.