The present invention relates to: recombinant DNA encoding the SbfI restriction endonuclease as well as the SbfI methylase, and expression of the SbfI restriction endonuclease and SbfI methylase in E. coli cells containing the recombinant DNA; and methods for cloning the SbfI restriction gene (sbfIR) from Streptomyces species Bf-61 into E. coli by PCR. The method relied on primers based on DNA sequences predicted from amino acid sequences of the purified SbfI restriction endonuclease.