Patent Application
20060035222
The present invention relates to methods of nucleic acid amplification, in particular to methods that employ the polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
DNA amplification techniques, and in particular the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) have become key diagnostic tools. Theoretically, a single target molecule can be detected in a background of 1010 to 1012 non-target molecules. Recently, technology has been developed that allows nucleic acid quantification by monitoring the PCR amplification reaction in real-time (Orlando, C. P. Pinzani, and M. Pazzagli. 1998. Clin Chem Lab Med. 36(5):255-69.). There have also been efforts in the amplification of several targets simultaneously (multiplex PCR) (Elnifro, E. M., A. M. Ashshi, R. J. Cooper, and P. E. Klapper. 2000. Clin Microbiol Rev. 13(4):559-70.). This, however, is very complicated since several different primer pairs have to be optimised simultaneously.
While there is a demand in many diagnostic and other fields for multiplex PCR, the optimisation of multiplex PCR poses several problems, including poor sensitivity or specificity and/or preferential amplification of certain targets. Primers with better than average priming efficiency will produce more of their product and potentially use up the available triphosphates in the reaction mixture before amplicons relying on other less efficient primers reach detectable levels.
In addition, the presence of more than one primer pair in the multiplex PCR reaction increases the chance of obtaining spurious amplification products, primarily through the formation of primer dimers. These non-specific products may be amplified more efficiently than the desired target, consuming reaction components and producing impaired rates of annealing and extension. The optimisation of multiplex PCR should aim to minimise or reduce such non-specific interactions.
Most diagnostic assays require detection and quantification of several different targets simultaneously. The methodological limitations, are in many cases the reasons for developing simplex assays, or assays including only a few targets. This is for instance the case with the current tests for genetically modified organisms (GMOs, essentially plant material) in foods. Currently, about 50 GMO constructs are approved in for commercial use in USA. In Europe, approved GMO foods require labelling if more than 1% of any ingredient originates from a GMO. Considering the large numbers of GMOs expected in the future, multiplex quantitative measurements are required to determine whether the foods contain approved or unapproved GMO constructs, and whether the amount of GMO in the ingredients is above or below 1%.
Thus, while multiplex PCR is a very useful technique in theory, the practical problems of simultaneously performing multiple reactions are holding back its use. Recently, a technique has been proposed (Shuber, A. P., V. J. Grondin, and K. W. Klinger. 1995. Genome Res. 5(5):488-93.) which seeks to reduce the impact of the different amplification efficiencies of different primers. Such methods involve the performance of two distinct PCR reactions, with different amplification primers used in each reaction. The primers used in the first reaction are bipartite, each containing a region which is specific for a particular target sequence within the nucleic acid sample to be analysed and a universal region at the 5′ end.
Amplification cycles are performed to generate a population of amplicons from each target sequence. The region which is specific for a given target sequence hybridizes to the sample nucleic acid so that normal polymerase controlled extension can occur. The universal region does not hybridise with the original template nucleic acid but as products from earlier cycles are used as templates, this constant segment and regions complementary to it are incorporated into the amplicons. This helps to normalize the hybridisation kinetics across the different target sequences being simultaneously amplified, preventing individual target sequences being significantly over or under represented at the end of the reaction.
Then a second amplification reaction is performed using as primers oligonucleotides which comprise or consists of the universal region from the first amplification reaction. The different target regions are thus amplified using the same primers and the ratio of the number of stating molecules to end product amplicons should therefore be constant.
Such a method is described, for example in WO 99/58721 which is incorporated herein by reference. This publication particularly addresses the problems of amplifying and detecting many different target sequences in a single reaction and success is attributed to a combination of factors, including the small size of the amplification targets, optimization of amplification conditions and the presence of the constant (universal) sequence at the 5′-end of the primers.
However, in practice the methods described in WO 99/58721 and in J. Med. Genet 2000: 37 272-280, do not provide quantitative results in a multiplex PCR system. There are many scenarios where as well as testing a sample for the presence of a number of different nucleic acid sequences of interest (multiplex), it is desirable to determine the level of each sequence in a sample, i.e. to obtain quantitative results. Of particular interest is the need for food producers and food control authorities to test whether foods and food ingredients contain genetically modified plants. Already about 50 different genetically modified plants have been approved in the USA and it would clearly be very costly and time consuming to analyse a food sample for specific genetically modified plants (gmps) in a series of separate reactions. As the number of gmps increases and their use become more widespread it will be desirable to use multiplex assays to detect signature genetic elements used in gmps in a single reaction. It is also desirable to have information about whether the specific group is present in the food only in trace amounts or whether the amount is above or below a certain limit. At present there are no methods available which reliably provide this quantitative information in a multiplex environment.
A method has now been developed which addresses these problems and has been shown to provide quantitative multiplex PCR in the context of detecting gmps and which also has general applicability to assays where quantitative results of multiplex PCR are required. The method is based on the two step PCR described above but it has surprisingly been found that removal of the primers from the first amplification reaction ensures that the second amplification reaction, and thus the method as a whole, retains its quantitative character. According to this method therefore, the second amplification reaction is performed in the absence of the primers from the first amplification reaction.
Thus, according to one aspect, the present invention provides a method of simultaneously amplifying a plurality of target sequences within sample nucleic acid which comprises:
The primers used in the second amplification reaction (step (d)) will preferably be identical or substantially identical to part B of the bipartite primers used in the first amplification reaction and will typically not comprise part A or a functional part or equivalent thereof. The term ‘substantially identical’ will be understood with functional considerations in mind, i.e. the ability to hybridise efficiently to the amplification products of the first amplification reaction. Typically this will mean no more than 5 nucleotide additions, deletions or substitutions, preferably no more than 3. These primers ‘comprise part B of the bipartite primers (or a nucleotide sequence which is substantially identical to part B)’, i.e. the nucleotide sequence of these primers comprises the same sequence as part B of the bipartite primers used in the first amplification reaction (or a nucleotide sequence which is substantially identical to part B).
In a preferred embodiment, the constant region B of the bipartite primers is common between both forward and reverse primers and thus only a single primer species is required in the second amplification reaction. In an alternative embodiment, it may be desirable to have different forward and reverse primers, with one of the primer species labelled for subsequent detection. Whether the constant region (B) is common to all primers or only amongst the forward or reverse primers, it is found at the 5′end of both the forward and reverse primers; the variable section (A) which is designed to hybridise to a sequence in the sample nucleic acid is found at the 3′end of the bipartite primers. Thus the abbreviation ‘A-B’ does not imply a relative position within the molecule for the two regions in terms of the 3′ and 5′ ends. The constant region (B) is typically 10-40 nucleotides in length, preferably 12-25 nucleotides in length.
The region B will either be substantially the same in all bipartite primers or substantially the same amongst the forward primers with a second region B′ which is different to B but is substantially the same amongst all the reverse primers. Preferably B (or B′) will be exactly the same in all bipartite primers or at least in all forward or all reverse primers but it will be understood that a small number of nucleotide variations between sequences will not significantly affect the method. The term ‘common’ should be interpreted with this in mind. The purpose of these constant regions is to even out differences in priming efficiency and to provide highly efficient hybridisation and priming with the primers used in the second amplification reaction. Therefore between B sequences which are substantially the same there will preferably be variation at no more than 3 nucleotide positions.
Preferably the constant region(s) B is chosen so that it does not hybridise with the sample nucleic acid, or at least does not hybridise efficiently therewith. Thus a randomly chosen sequence may be constructed according to the well known rules for primer design.
Part A of the bipartite primers is specific for particular target sequences in that they are designed to hybridise to a region of nucleic acid which flanks the target sequence which it is desired to amplify. According to the normal conventions of the PCR, the A sequences will be in pairs, each pair consisting of a forward primer and a reverse primer which hybridise to regions upstream and downstream of a nucleotide sequence of interest. The bipartite primers will therefore be formed into pairs of forward and reverse primers by the nature of their A sequence. In certain cases, part A may be substantilly identical in the forward and the reverse primer, for example when the desired target sequence is flanked by inverted repeats as is often the case with mobile elements such as transposons.
The primers may have the form AF1-B, AR1-B, AR1-B, AR2-B etc. where ‘AF1’ indicates a forward primer sequence which hybridises to a flanking region of a first target sequence and ‘AR1’ a reverse primer sequence which hybridises to the other flanking region of the first target sequence. As mentioned above, the common regions B may be different in forward and reverse primers, thus having the form AF1-B, AR1-B′, AF2-B, AR2-B and so on.
The part A regions which hybridise to specific-regions in the sample nucleic acid amplification are selected by methods well known in the field of nucleic acid amplification. In order to select a pair of A sequences for amplifying a target region, the sequence of and adjacent to the target sequence must be known (or at least approximately known). Short stretch sequences at either end of the target sequence are then selected and the primers designed for hybridisation to these regions.
Typically only a few cycles will be performed in the first amplification reaction, e.g. less than 25, preferably less than 15, more preferably less than 10, to avoid potential artefacts in the multiplex amplification and to ensure that none of the targets reach saturation levels. Preferably this first amplification reaction is carried out using standard PCR reagents and conditions and suitable parameters for the cycles are described in the examples and are generally well known in the art. The ‘first’ and ‘second’ amplification reactions therefore refer to two sets of amplification cycles, each defined by the primers involved.
To increase amplification efficiency for a given target sequence, the primer concentrations for that target may be increased for the first amplification reaction.
The bipartite primers are then separated from the amplification products of the first amplification reaction before the second amplification reaction takes place. By ‘separation’ is meant the separation of the bipartite primers and the amplification products into two distinct pools, not the dissociation of primer and template which occurs as an integral part of all standard PCR reactions. This may be achieved by removing the bipartite primers, conveniently this is done by breaking down the bipartite primers e.g. by exonuclease degradation. Alternatively, the bipartite primers could possess a non-standard modification, e.g. contain uracil instead of thymine, and could therefore be degraded by a DNA-modifying enzyme such as uracil-DNA glycosylase. This enzyme removes uracil from the sugar backbone which leads, on heat treatment, to a strand break. This enzyme removes uracil from the sugar backbone which leads, on heat treatment, to a strand break. The use of bipartite primers which contain uracil only in the A part would allow the selective degradation of only this part, leaving part B intact, which could then participate in the second amplification reaction.
Thus, reference above to ‘degradation’ of the bipartite primers includes both full or partial degration and so a molecule which has been partially broken down can be considered to be degraded. It is important that the A parts of the bipartite primers are no longer available to take part in hybridisation reactions during the second amplification reaction. A ‘DNA-modifying enzyme’ is therefore able to inactivate the bipartite primers or at least part A thereof.
Alternatively the amplification products may be isolated from the rest of the initial reaction mixture which contains the bipartite primers. The products of the first amplification reaction are thus purified before being used as templates for the second amplification reaction. Purification is conveniently achieved by capturing the amplification products on a solid support e.g. by using a standard PCR product purification kit or through attaching a binding moiety to the amplification products and providing a binding partner for said binding moiety on the solid support. The binding moiety may be attached to a probe which in turn hybridises to the amplification product. Suitable binding moieties are well known in the art and include, streptavidin/biotin, antigen/antibody interactions, lectin binding systems or probes covalently bound to a solid support etc. Suitable solid supports are also well known and widely available, preferably the support is magnetic and particulate for ease of manipulation.
Key to step (c) is the fact that all or most, i.e. at least 70%, preferably at least 80%, more preferably at least 90% of the bipartite primers are degraded or separated from the amplification products before the second amplification reaction takes place.
The second amplification reaction uses either a single primer species or a single forward primer species and a single reverse primer species. If appropriate, these may be present in the reaction mix from the start, i.e. during the first amplification reaction, or be generated through the modification or partial degradation of the bipartite primers, for example as described above where uracil replaces thymine in part or all of the bipartite primers. In other embodiments of the invention, e.g. where an exonuclease is used to degrade the primers or the amplification products are separated from the bipartite primers through the use of a labelled probe, the primers used in the second amplification reaction will not be present in the initial reaction mix. Step (d) of the method defined above therefore encompasses all of these variants.
It may be desirable to perform all the method steps (i.e. both the first and second amplification reactions) in one reaction vessel and degradation of the bipartite primers may conveniently allow this.
The advantages of the methods of the invention are twofold. One limitation of multiplex PCR is the different amplification efficiencies of the different amplicons when specific primer sets are used. This will lead to a situation where some of the amplicons present are amplified whereas others are not. In addition, using many different primer pairs in one reaction inevitably leads to a large number of side reactions due to primers interacting with each other. These side reactions perturb the PCR. The use of a constant part B in the first step primers in combination with the removal of those primers eliminates these problems. Secondly, the amplification of all targets with the same primer or primer pair leads to a constant ratio of the different targets in the multiplex PCR before and after amplification, in the same way as in competitive PCR. By effectively removing the bipartite primers after the first PCR step, these do not interfere with the ratios of the different amplicons during the second PCR step. This removal is what makes the system maintain its quantitative nature.
‘Amplification’ refers to a process for using polymerase and a pair of primers for increasing the amount of a particular nucleic acid sequence, a target sequence, relative to the amount of that sequence initially present in the sample nucleic acid. Amplification may conveniently be achieved by the in vitro methods of PCR (including reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR)) or ligase chain reaction or others as well as NASBA (nucleic acid sequence based amplifications) approaches.
A ‘target sequence’ is a sequence that lies between the hybridisation regions of a pair of primers (and may in addition include the primer sequences themselves) and can be amplified by them. The number of different target sequences within the sample which may be amplified will depend on the nature and requirements of the assay. Typically there will be more than 4, e.g. 8 or more even 12 or 20 or more different target sequences amplified in one multiplex reaction.
In the context of assaying for the presence of GMOs, the target sequences may fall into one of a number of categories. The target sequence may fall entirely within a gene of interest and the ampicillin PCR in the multiplex system described in the present Examples is an example of this. The ampicillin resistance gene is included in pUC18 which is used in the generation of Bt176 corn (Maximizer Corn). A positive PCR result shows the presence of the gene but does not determine the origin of the DNA and therefore the amp signal could originate from Bt176 DNA but could also originate from a bacterial contamination of the plant.
A gene of interest is typically part of a construct of interest and a promoter often used in such constructs is the 35S promoter from the Cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV). One of the PCRs in the multiplex PCR described in the present examples detects this promoter and thus target sequences may be in regulatory regions. Although again, a positive result may indicate that the plant has been infected with Cauliflower mosaic virus. The nos reaction of the present examples detects a different regulatory region used in these constructs, the NOS terminator.
A more specific approach is to design a primer pair overlapping a junction region between a promoter or terminator (a regulatory region) and a gene of interest. These DNAs do not occur naturally in nature and thus a PCR signal would be a very strong indication of the presence of GMOs. In the present examples such an overlap is detected in the multiplex PCR system for Bt176 and Bt11 (Methods for the specific detection of Bt176 corn and Bt11 corn are described in Hurst, C. D. et al. (1999) European Food Research and Technology Vol. 5, 579-586 and Zimmermann, A. et al. (2000) Lebensmittel-Wissenschaft & Technologie, 33, 210-216 respectively). In the Bt176 PCR a fragment overlapping the junction between the pepC promoter (phosphoenol pyruvate carboxylase promoter from maize) and the cry gene (a synthetic gene from Bacillus thuringiensis which confers insect resistance) is targetted. In Bt11 the PCR overlaps the junction between the 35S promoter and an enhancer DNA fragment from the alcohol dehydrogenase gene from maize. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, one or more of the target sequences spans a non-naturally occurring nucleic acid sequence, e.g. a sequence comprising regions which are not naturally found in juxtaposition.
However, even this approach could conceivably cause problems if a company used the same construct, e.g. a specific promoter-enhancer-gene-terminator in several different plants (be it the same species or not, but different transformation events). One of these transformations (GMOs) may be approved by the relevant regulatory body while others are not but the PCR would not be able to discriminate between the approved GMO and the non-approved GMO(s). When a plant is transformed, DNA integrates randomly at different sites for each transformation event. Thus a way of overcoming the problems discussed above would be to determine the plant DNA sequence which flanks the inserted DNA, and then construct a primer pair which overlaps this junction (which can be called an ‘event specific region’).
Thus in a preferred embodiment of the methods of the present invention one or more of the target sequences is for an event specific region, i.e. spans a region which comprises both host plant species DNA and inserted DNA from the genetically engineered construct.
The Mon810 PCR of the present examples is an example of such an event specific region (Zimmermann et al. (1998)) Food Science and Tech. 31, 664-667 have designed a nested PCR system for the detection of Maisgard corn (Mon810 corn) as the amplified sequence lies in the overlap between integrated DNA and the plant's endogenous DNA.
The sample nucleic acid may be isolated or may exist as part of a mixed sample which includes other cellular components from the biological source from which it was obtained. Methods of isolating nucleic acid from a biological sample are well known in the art. Any biological sample containing nucleic acid is a suitable source of nucleic acid and thus the sample may be derived from animals, plants, insects, bacteria, yeast, viruses or other organisms. Particularly preferred sources of sample nucleic acid for amplification according to the present invention are plants or food products which contain or are suspected of containing genetically modified material. The ‘sample nucleic acid’ may be derived from one or more biological samples. In the context of plants and foodstuffs for example, a single plant may provide the sample nucleic acid or it may be derived from a number of plants of the same or even different species.
By ‘nucleic acid’ is meant DNA (including cDNA) or RNA. The nucleic acid may be naturally occuring or synthesised by chemical or recombinant techniques.
The above amplification method is then generally followed by a detection step and suitable detection methods for multiplex PCR are known in the art and discussed, for example, in WO 99/58721. When performing a multiplex reaction it is necessary to differentiate between the amplification products from different loci. This could be done on the basis of size discrimination, e.g. on gels but requires the amplification products to be of different sizes, e.g. 100 bp, 200 bp etc. The reaction products could be differentially labelled, i.e. different tags are attached to primers for different loci, however such a technique is limited by the number of different commercially available tags (e.g. fluorescent molecules).
Thus in a preferred embodiment probes specific to the different nucleotide sequences of interest which have been amplified are enzymatically labelled at their 3′end and then the labelled probes are captured by hybridisation to complementary DNA on a solid support e.g. nylon filters, glass slides, chips etc. Such methods are described in the Examples and in WO 99/50448.
These probes to the different target regions may be labelled at the 5′-end with a fluorescent group other than the one used in the 3′-end labelling reaction. During fluorescent scanning it would then be possible to calculate immediately the percentage of molecules labelled during the labelling reaction.
As discussed above, the methods claimed herein are quantitative in nature. The signal strengths for identified target sequences can be compared to known standards to calculate the concentration (e.g. copy number) of that target sequence in the sample. As described in the Examples, a known concentration of a control sequence (IPC) may conveniently be added to the sample to adjust for fluctuations in amplification efficiency from one sample reaction mix to another; the use of such an internal control determines the absolute amount of nucleic acid in the sample and is a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In a further preferred embodiment, also described in the Examples, a species specific target sequence is amplified and this reference gene enables the relative amounts of nucleic acid constructs/sequences of interest (e.g. a target GM construct) as compared to the material from said species to be determined.
Thus, the invention provides data for a given target sequence which can be quantified against a known reference for that target sequence. Target sequences can be detected qualitatively and quantitatively according to the methods of the invention and the results from different experiments compared because quantifiable information is obtained.
In a further aspect, the present invention provides a kit for use in a method of nucleic acid amplification, typically any method as described above, which comprises:
Means (b) may conveniently include exonucleases which degrade the primers, standard PCR-product purification kits or probes that capture the amplification products on a solid support. Where part A but not part B of the bipartite primers contains thymine, means (b) may conveniently comprise an enzyme such as uracil DNA glycosylase which selectively degrades part A of the bipartite primers, generating primers for use in a further amplification reaction. In which case, a separate component (c) may not be required.
The invention will be further described in the following non-limiting examples and with reference to the Figures in which:
(A): PCR carried out in two steps: 1. PCR (10 cycles) using specific primers with a common “head” sequence. Primers are then digested and the 2. PCR (30 cycles) is carried out using the common head primer. (B) Same as A, but the specific primers were not degraded before the 2.PCR step. Panel I: shows the fluorescence signals after hybridisation and scanning, panel II: shows the blot after binding of antibodies and enzymatic HRP colour reaction.
Example 17 Screening of commercial samples using the 12-plex PCR system. The results after chromogenic enhancement is shown. Samples 01, 02: Reference mix containing 0.7% of each of Bt176, Bt11 and Mon810, 03, 04: Reference mix containing 2% of each of CBH351, DBT418, GA21 and T25. 1-19: Food and feed samples. All samples contained approx. 100 copies of IPC (internal positive control).
Example 19 Quantification of food and feed samples from USA with regards to Bt11 and Bt 176 using the eight-plex PCR system. Samples are as indicated in the Figure. All samples were analysed in duplicate.
Materials and Methods
Template and DNA Purification.
The method chosen exploits the use of DNA adsorption columns provided by Qiagen in the DNeasy plant mini kit. Samples were homogenised when necessary and purified as described by the manufacturer with the following modifications.
The initial buffer volume was doubled and lysis was carried out for 30 min at 65° C. using a shaking incubator. When eluting DNA bound to the column, 50 μl of preheated buffer was used. In the repeated elution step another 50 μl buffer was added and the columns were spun at 13000 rpm for 2 min.
The criteria used for assessing the quality of the DNA preparation was that no inhibition should be detected when samples were analysed with different BioInside kits. This is easily seen on the internal PCR Control (IPC) provided by BioInside. Also the quality of DNA was analysed carrying out PCR on dilutions of a sample and calculating the amplification efficiency and quantifiable range of the PCR by plotting the Ct values against the log DNA concentration and performing linear regression analysis. A large number of different food samples (>100) have been analysed giving good results with this DNA purification method.
The maize reference gene used herein is the maize zein gene.
PCR amplification. Purified DNA was used in the amplification reactions. We used a two step PCR amplification approach (see
Primers with a “head” were then removed by enzymatic degradation or by transfer of the PCR products to new tubes by capturing DNA onto paramagnetic beads labelled with specific capture probes. In the second PCR step a primer identical to the universal “head” region was used.
In the first PCR step we used 10 pmol of each of the primers, 1× Dynazyme DNA polymerase reaction buffer, 10 mM dNTP, and 2 μl DynaZyme DNA polymerase (2U μl) in a final volume of 50 μl. In some cases (for Bt11 detection) the concentration of primers was increased. The amplification protocol used was as follows (1.PCR step); 4 cycles using the parameters 95° C. for 30 s, 55° C. for 30 s, and 72° C. for 30 s, and then 6 cycles using the parameters 95° C. for 30 s and 72° C. for 30 s. Twenty μl of the amplification product from PCR step 1 were treated with 2 μl Exonuclease I to degrade the residual single stranded primers, and 3 μl shrimp alkaline phosphatase to inactivate the nucleotides. The reaction was incubated at 37° C. for 30 min, and then at 95° C. for 10 min to inactivate the added enzymes.
Five μl of the exonuclease treated products were then used for the second PCR amplification step. 50 pmol of a universal primer identical to the universal region (“head”) of the primers used in the first PCR reaction were added. The other components were the same as in the first amplification. The amplification conditions used were: 95° C. for 15 s and 70° C. for 45 s for 40 cycles. During the course of the work some changes and modifications in the PCR conditions were adopted. In the introductory experiments the 2. PCR step was carried out under the following conditions: 40 cycles of 95° C. for 15 s, 65° C. for 15 s and 72° C. for 30 s. Later (pertaining to
Sequence Specific Labelling.
After amplification with the “head” primer the amplification products were treated with 2 μl exonuclase 1 and 2 μl shrimp alkaline phosphatase at 37° C. for 30 min, and then 95° C. for 10 min to inactivate the enzymes. The cyclic labelling conditions were as follows; 1× Thermosequenase reaction buffer, 10 pmol of each GM specific probe, 100 pmol ddNTP (except ddCTP), 100 pmol Fluorescein-12-ddCTP, 16 U Thermosequenase DNA polymerase, and 24 μl phosphatase and exonuclease treated PCR product. The labelling was done using the following parameters; 95° C. for 15 s, 60° C. for 1 min for 15 cycles, 95° C. for 15 s, 55° C. for 1 min for 15 cycles, and finally 95° C. for 15 s, 50° C. for 1 min for 15 cycles.
DNA Array Hybridisation.
The format of the assay is shown in
Quantification of scanned signals was carried out using the Imagemaster™ Array software version 2.0 program and calculations were done with Microsoft Excel 97 SR-2.
* All Head primers contain the head sequence at the 5′- end in addition to the sequences listed
This example shows that qualitative multiplex detection is possible. The multiplex method was used to detect Bt11 corn (DNA from 2% reference material), Bt176 corn (1%) and Mon810 corn (1%) alone or in combinations (
This example shows the quantitative nature of the PCR. Bt11 DNA was diluted with non-GM corn DNA to give different GM concentrations. These were analysed using the multiplex assay (
1% Bt176 and 2% Bt11 DNA was detected in an eight-plex reaction (
This experiment was done to show that it is necessary to remove the “headprimers” after the 1. PCR step to maintain the quantitative nature of the assay. Quantitative 8-plex PCR for detection of GMP corn was carried out. Bt176 DNA and Bt11 DNA were kept constant at 0.7% in all samples. Concentrations of Mon810 DNA was varied from 2.0 to 0%. In
This example showed the effect of omitting the 2.PCR step (
A reference mixture of 0.7% Bt176, 0.7% Bt11 and 0.7% Mon810 at different dilutions was used as templates in the PCR (
A dilution series containing different amounts of Mon810 DNA was analysed alone and in combination with 1% Bt11 in the samples. The fluorescence signals after hybridisation of the labelled probes and the blot after HRP colouring are shown in
To investigate the repeatability of the system, the experiment in example 7 was repeated. A dilution series containing different amounts of Mon810 DNA was analysed alone and in combination with 1% Bt11 in the samples. The fluorescence signals and the blot after HRP colouring are shown in
The experiment was performed as in example 6, except that the amount of Bt176 was varied and Mon810 was kept constant. A dilution series containing different amounts of Bt176 was analysed alone and in combination with 1% Mon810 in the samples. The flueorescence signals and the blot after HRP colouring are shown in
Table 2 below gives details of primers and probes for use in Examples 10, 11 and 12 as well as preferred oligonucleotides for use in the earlier Examples. In this table there are no biotin labelled probes and as shown in Table 1, it is understood that a probe complementary to e.g. Bt11 MudF may also be used in the labelling and capture step.
§All sense and antisense primers used in the MQDA-PCR contain the HEAD sequence, designated by an H at the 5′-end in addition to the given sequence.
*All 5′-nuclease PCR probes contain 5′FAM (6-FAM) and 3′Tamra.
§§All filter bound capture probes are complementary to their corresponding probes
## Only primers and probes different from those used in the MQDA-PCR are listed. All 5′-nuclease primers are without the HEAD sequence.
1Holck, A., M. Va+E,umla itilingom, L. Didierjean, and K. Rudi. 2002. 5′-nuclease PCR for quantitative event-specific detection of the genetically modified Mon810 MaisGard maize. European Food Research and Technology 214: 449-453.
2Matsuoka, T., Kuribara, H., Akiyama, H., Miura, H., Goda, Y., Kusakabe, Y., Isshiki, K., Toyoda, M., Hino,A. 2001. A multiplex PCR method of detecting recombinant DNAs from five lines of genetically modified maize. Journal of the Food Hygienic Society of Japan 42: 24-32.
3Vaïtilingom, M., Pijnenburg, H., Gendre, F., Brignon, P. 1999. Real-Time Quantitative PCR detection of genetically modified Maximizer Maize and Roundup Ready Soybean in some representative foods. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry 47:5261-5266
The multiplex system was expanded from an eight-plex PCR to a twelve-plex PCR through the inclusion of primers for detection of the maize constructs CBH351, DBT418, GA21 and T25 (
Seventeen different food and feed samples were screened using the twelve-plex system described in Example 10 (
Seven GM positive samples and one negative sample were selected for a comparative quantitative study between the eight-plex PCR and 5′-nuclease PCR for the constructs Mon810, Bt11 and Bt176 (
$horse feed
*nd not determined
**A negative sample included
Use of Uracil DNA Glycosylase (UNG) to Degrade modified bipartite primers
Bipartite primers were designed to amplify the glnA gene from Campylobacter jejuni and constructed to contain uracil instead of thymine at all (appropriate) positions. The “head” primers consisted of part B only and did not contain any uracil.
Both sets of primers were added at the start of the PCR reaction. A first amplification reaction was performed and after 10 amplification cycles UNG was added to degrade the bipartite primers. After this degradation step, amplification of the target sequence was still observed.
Bipartite primers were designed to amplify the glnA gene from Campylobacter jejuni. Part A of these primers was specific for the gluA sequence and contained uracil instead of thymine, whereas part B did not contain any uracil.
At the start of the PCR reaction, the bipartite primers were the only primers present. After 5 amplification cycles UNG was added to degrade part A of the bipartite primers. This degradation was detected by gel electrophoretic analysis. This reaction thus generated primers which only contained part B, and could participate in a second amplification reaction. Amplification was indeed observed after the UNG degradation step.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0200828.2 | Jan 2002 | GB | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/GB03/00195 | 1/15/2003 | WO | 5/23/2005 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60348396 | Jan 2002 | US |
