A thermostable DNA polymerase was used in an in vitro DNA amplification procedure, the polymerase chain reaction. The enzyme, isolated from Thermus aquaticus, greatly simplifies the procedure and, by enabling the amplification reaction to be performed at higher temperatures, significantly improves the specificity, yield, sensitivity, and length of products that can be amplified. Single-copy genomic sequences were amplified by a factor of more than 10 million with very high specificity, and DNA segments up to 2000 base pairs were readily amplified. In addition, the method was used to amplify and detect a target DNA molecule present only once in a sample of 10(5) cells.

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Primer-directed enzymatic amplification of DNA with a thermostable DNA polymerase

A novel DNA fingerprinting technique called AFLP is described. The AFLP technique is based on the selective PCR amplification of restriction fragments from a total digest of genomic DNA. The technique involves three steps: (i) restriction of the DNA and ligation of oligonucleotide adapters, (ii) selective amplification of sets of restriction fragments, and (iii) gel analysis of the amplified fragments. PCR amplification of restriction fragments is achieved by using the adapter and restriction site sequence as target sites for primer annealing. The selective amplification is achieved by the use of primers that extend into the restriction fragments, amplifying only those fragments in which the primer extensions match the nucleotides flanking the restriction sites. Using this method, sets of restriction fragments may be visualized by PCR without knowledge of nucleotide sequence. The method allows the specific co-amplification of high numbers of restriction fragments. The number of fragments that can be analyzed simultaneously, however, is dependent on the resolution of the detection system. Typically 50-100 restriction fragments are amplified and detected on denaturing polyacrylamide gels. The AFLP technique provides a novel and very powerful DNA fingerprinting technique for DNAs of any origin or complexity.

AFLP: a new technique for DNA fingerprinting.

Phylogenetic identification and in situ detection of individual microbial cells without cultivation.

Site-directed mutagenesis by overlap extension using the polymerase chain reaction.

A complementary DNA for the Aequorea victoria green fluorescent protein (GFP) produces a fluorescent product when expressed in prokaryotic (Escherichia coli) or eukaryotic (Caenorhabditis elegans) cells. Because exogenous substrates and cofactors are not required for this fluorescence, GFP expression can be used to monitor gene expression and protein localization in living organisms.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/263/5148/802.full.pdf

Green fluorescent protein as a marker for gene expression

The exquisite sensitivity of the polymerase chain reaction means DNA contamination can ruin an entire experiment. Tidiness and adherence to a strict set of protocols can avoid disaster.

Avoiding false positives with PCR

Specific, end-labeled DNA fragments can be simply and rapidly prepared using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Such fragments are suitable for use in DNase I protection footprint assays, chemical sequencing reactions, and for the production and analysis of paused RNA polymerase transcription complexes. Moreover, a general means of introducing a specific mutation at any position along the length of such PCR-generated fragments is described. These procedures, which can circumvent the need for large-scale phage or plasmid growths, preparative gel-electrophoresis and the screening of molecular clones, can facilitate the rapid study of sequence-specific interactions of proteins and DNA. A rapid means of removing excess oligonucleotide primers from completed PCRs is also described.

/pdf/a-general-method-of-in-vitro-preparation-and-specific-3ee3uffj1e.pdf

A general method of in vitro preparation and specific mutagenesis of DNA fragments: study of protein and DNA interactions

The characterization of genetic variation at the DNA level has generated significant advances in gene and disease mapping1, and in the forensic identification of individuals2–6. The most common method of DNA analysis, that of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), requires microgram amounts of relatively undegraded DNA for multi-locus typing, and hundreds of nanograms for single-locus comparisons7. Such DNA frequently cannot be obtained from forensic samples such as single hairs and blood stains, or from anthropological, genetic or zoological samples collected in the field. To detect polymorphic DNA sequences from single human hairs, we have used the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), in which specific short regions of a gene can be greatly amplified in vitro8–10 from as little as a single molecule of DNA10. We have detected genetically variable mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences from the root region of shed, as well as freshly-plucked, single hairs; mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences have been detected in a sample from a single hair shaft. We have used three different means of DNA typing on these samples: the determination of amplified DNA fragment length differences, hybridization with allele-specific oligonucleotide probes, and direct DNA sequencing.

DNA typing from single hairs

Direct sequencing of specific regions of genomic DNA1 became feasible with the invention of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) which permits amplification of specific regions of DNA2–5. Recently, human mitochondria! DNA was amplified and directly sequenced6. Using a thermostable DNA polymerase of T. aquaticus (Saiki, R. K. et al., manuscript in preparation) in the PCR, we have applied a combination of PCR and direct sequence analysis of the amplified product to a human single-copy gene. We studied the genomic DNA of five patients with β-thalassaemia whose mutant alleles were uncharacterized, and found two previously undescribed mutations, along with three known alleles. One new allele is a frameshift at codons 106–107 and the other is an A–C transversion at the cap site (+1) of the β-globin gene. This latter is the first natural mutation observed at the cap site and it occurs in a gene which is poorly expressed.

Russell Higuchi

Papers

Primer-directed enzymatic amplification of DNA with a thermostable DNA polymerase

Avoiding false positives with PCR

A general method of in vitro preparation and specific mutagenesis of DNA fragments: study of protein and DNA interactions

DNA typing from single hairs

Characterization of β-thalassaemia mutations using direct genomic sequencing of amplified single copy DNA