Claims
- 1. A method for treating nucleic acid, comprising:
- a) providing:
- i) a 5' nuclease derived from a thermostable DNA polymerase altered in amino acid sequence such that it exhibits reduced DNA synthetic activity from that of the wild-type DNA polymerase but retains substantially the same 5' nuclease activity of the wild-type DNA polymerase; and
- ii) a nucleic acid substrate;
- b) treating said nucleic acid substrate under conditions such that said substrate forms one or more cleavage structures; and
- c) reacting said 5' nuclease with said cleavage structures so that one or more cleavage products are produced.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said nuclease is selected from the group consisting of Cleavase.TM. BN, Thermus aquaticus DNA polymerase, and Thermus thermophilus DNA polymerase.
- 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said nucleic acid of step (a) is substantially single-stranded.
- 4. The method of claim 1, wherein said nucleic acid is RNA.
- 5. The method of claim 1, wherein said nucleic acid is DNA.
- 6. The method of claim 1, wherein said nucleic acid of step (a) is double stranded.
- 7. The method of claim 6, wherein said treating of step (b) comprises:
- i) rendering said double-stranded nucleic acid substantially single-stranded; and
- ii) exposing said single-stranded nucleic acid to conditions such that said single-stranded nucleic acid has secondary structure.
- 8. The method of claim 7, wherein said double-stranded nucleic acid is rendered substantially single-stranded by increased temperature.
- 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of detecting said one or more cleavage products.
- 10. A method for treating nucleic acid, comprising:
- a) providing
- i) an enzymatic cleavage means; and
- ii) a nucleic acid substrate;
- b) treating said nucleic acid substrate with increased temperature such that said substrate is substantially single-stranded;
- c) reducing said temperature under conditions such that said single-stranded substrate forms one or more cleavage structures, said cleavage structures formed by intra-strand hydrogen bonding in the absence of a primer oligonucleotide;
- d) reacting said cleavage means with said cleavage structures so that one or more cleavage products are produced; and
- e) detecting said one or more cleavage products.
- 11. The method of claim 10, wherein said enzymatic cleavage means is a nuclease.
- 12. The method of claim 11, wherein said nuclease is selected from the group consisting of Cleavase.TM. BN, Thermus aquaticus DNA polymerase, Thermus thermophilus DNA polymerase, Escherichia coli Exo III, and the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Rad1/Rad10 complex.
- 13. The method of claim 10, wherein said nucleic acid is RNA.
- 14. The method of claim 10, wherein said nucleic acid is DNA.
- 15. The method of claim 10, wherein said nucleic acid of step (a) is double stranded.
- 16. The method of claim 10, wherein said cleavage means is provided in a solution containing manganese.
- 17. A nucleic acid treatment kit, comprising:
- a) an enzyme capable of reacting with secondary structures that are cleavage structures so as to generate cleavage products; and
- b) a solution containing manganese.
- 18. The kit of claim 17, further comprising reagents for detecting said cleavage products.
Parent Case Info
This is a Continuation Application of application Ser. No. 08/402,601, filed Mar. 9, 1995, now abandoned which is a Continuation-In-Part Application of application Ser. No. 08/337,164, filed Nov. 9, 1994 now abandoned, which is a Continuation-In-Part Application of application Ser. No. 08/254,359, filed Jun. 6, 1994 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,614,802, which is a Continuation-In-Part Application of application Ser. No. 08/073,384, filed Jun. 4, 1993, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,311 on Jul. 30, 1996, which is a Continuation-In-Part Application of application Ser. No. 07/986,330, filed Dec. 7, 1992, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,422,253 on Jun. 6, 1995.
US Referenced Citations (12)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
0 482 714 A1 |
Apr 1992 |
EPX |
WO 9001609 |
Feb 1990 |
WOX |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
402601 |
Mar 1995 |
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Continuation in Parts (4)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
337164 |
Nov 1994 |
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Parent |
254359 |
Jun 1994 |
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Parent |
73384 |
Jun 1993 |
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Parent |
986330 |
Dec 1992 |
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