Method for degradation of nucleic acids and use thereof

The present invention provides a method to efficiently degrade nucleic acids, which result in a viscosity increase of the solution thereof on the occasion of decomposition or solubilization of microbial cells, in an easy and simple manner in the step of recovering various useful substance produced by a microorganism, and a use thereof. The product recovery method of the present invention make the product recovery from within microbial cells with ease under relatively mild conditions, because, by bringing living microbial cells into contact with a little amount of hypochlorous acid or a salt thereof, autodigestion of nucleic acids is induced and following decomposition of microbial cells or viscosity increase of the solution thereof after dissolution is inhibited. The method of the present invention is particularly preferred in recovering polyhydroxyalkanoates, which are biodegradable polymers, from microbial cells.