Why is EDTA used in lysis buffer?

Lysis buffer contains ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) as EDTA is a metal chelator. EDTA would chelate divalent cations such as magnesium, zinc, manganese, nickel, copper ions etc, which are cofactors of many enzymes such as DNAses and proteases. By chelating the co-factors of these enzymes, the activity of the enzyme decreases, as they wouldn’t be available for the reaction. Additionally, EDTA would also help in the dissociation of the 40S and 60S ribosomal subunits, protein-RNA complex, etc. Other than EDTA, ethylene glycol tetraacetic acid (EGTA) could also be used in the lysis buffer. The EDTA has a higher affinity for chelating Mg2+ ions compared to EGTA, therefore in many situations, EDTA is preferred.