Biotechnology is field where everything constantly changes. The rapid growth and development of cutting edge technology is invariably dependent on innovation of scientists and their ability to see a potential in a basic molecular technique and apply it to new processes. DNA sequencing is also dependent on our ability to use gel electrophoresis to separate strands of DNA that differ in size by as little as one base pair.
Originally there were 2 methods which were invented around 1976, but only one is widely used: the chain-termination method invented by Fred Sanger.
The other method is known as the Maxam-Gilbert chemical degradation method, which is the less used method but is still used for specialized purposes, such as analyzing DNA-protein
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Four different PCR reaction mixtures are prepared, each containing a certain percentage of dideoxynucleoside triphosphate (ddNTP) analogs to one of the four nucleotides (ATP, CTP, GTP or TTP).
Synthesis of the new DNA strand continues until one of these analogs is incorporated, at which time the strand is prematurely truncated. Each PCR reaction will end up containing a mixture of different lengths of DNA strands, all ending with the nucleotide that was dideoxy labeled for that reaction.
Gel electrophoresis is then used to separate the strands of the four reactions, in four separate lanes, and determine the sequence of the original template based on what lengths of strands end with what nucleotide.
In the automated Sanger reaction, primers are used that are labeled with four different coloured fluorescent tags. PCR reactions, in the presence of the different dideoxy nucleotides, are performed as described above. However, next, the four reaction mixtures are then combined and applied to a single lane of a gel. The colour of each fragment is detected using a laser beam and the information is collected by a computer which generates chromatograms showing peaks for each colour, from which the template DNA sequence can be
PCR permits the synthesis of millions of copies of a specific nucleotide sequence in a few hours. It can amplify the sequence, even when the targeted sequence makes up less than one part in a million of the total initial sample. Steps of the PCR cycle are shown in below figure.
Figure 1 Gel Electrophoresis for Replication Taster PTC. The gel is composed of an ethidium bromide stained 3% agarose gel demonstrating DNA fragments which were a depiction of PCR amplification. The agarose gel contains nine loading samples, including from left to right, the MW marker lane 1 precision mol mass standard, lane 2 TB undigested PTC (5µl of DNA, 5µl of master mix P, and 2.5µl of loading dye), lane 3 TB digested PTC (5µl of DNA, 5µl of master mix P, 2µl Fnu4HI, and 3µl of loading dye), lane 4 TB A(L)DH G (10µl DNA, 10µl master mix G, and 5µl loading dye), lane 5 TB A(L)DH A (10µl DNA, 10µl master mix A, and 5µl loading dye), lane 6 MG undigested PTC (5µl of DNA, 5µl of master mix P, and 2.5µl of loading dye), lane 7 MG digested PTC (5µl of DNA, 5µl of master mix P, 2µl Fnu4HI, and 3µl of loading dye), lane 8 MG A(L)DH G (10µl DNA, 10µl master mix G, and 5µl loading dye), lane 9 MG A(L)DH A (10µl DNA, 10µl master mix A, and 5µl loading dye).
They were run at 1X 94ºC for 3 minutes, 30X at 94ºC for 30 seconds; 50ºC for 30 seconds; 72ºC for 45 second and 1X at 72ºC for 5 minutes. The PCR reactions took about 1 hour and 30 minutes to complete. The PCR products, were then purified by removing the leftover primers, nucleotides and salts. 250 µl of Buffer BB were added to Tube B and the mixture was pipetted into a spin column. The mixture was centrifuged for 30 seconds at room temperature. Then 2 cycles were completed at 30 seconds each with 200 µl of Buffer WB to remove any impurities. Then 25µl of Buffer EB were added to the tube to release the pure DNA and the mixture was centrifuged for 30 seconds. As the PCR reaction was running, a microscope slide was prepared from the live bacterial culture to observe the individual cells of the unknown bacteria and determine its
The primary purpose is to identify a genetic marker or study the function of a specific gene. There are three steps involved in this process which are as follows: denaturation, annealing and elongation. Denaturation involves heating the DNA to agitate the hydrogen bonds, and annealing allows the temperature to be lowered so that the primers can be “annealed” to the single-stranded DNA template. The last step requires DNA polymerase to synthesize a new strand of DNA that is complementary to the RNA strand in the 5’ to 3’ direction (Amplifying DNA: The Polymerase Chain Reaction, 2016). The forward and reverse primers are needed to start the replication process by providing the appropriate nucleotides to the new strand. On the contrary, sanger sequencing makes copies of a target DNA, and the the DNA strand that will be sequenced is separated into two strands, so they can be copied through chemically altered bases. The altered bases cause the process of copying to terminate each time a particular letter is added to the growing DNA chain, which happens to all four bases until the fragments are put together to reveal the original sequence of the original DNA. The aforementioned processes are thoroughly explained to give an overview of the steps involved in providing the end products of the experiment, so an individual can manually decipher
PCR works by denaturing the double-stranded DNA and annealing the primers to the newly-made single-stranded DNA, leading to the extension/elongation of the DNA by a polymerase that attaches to the primer/DNA strand. The PCR reaction strums through a handful of temperature cycles to maximize each step and the amount of product.
Lane 3 contained the initial PCR product, which was not successful. Lane 4 showed the nested PCR, which was successful and resulted in three distinct bands. The accompanying table (table 1) showed what was loaded into each lane, the number of bands, and the approximate base pairs (bp) present in relation to the molecular ruler. The gel was loaded with samples from the entire lab table. Lane 1 and 2 showed Lydia's results for initial and nested PCR on the same plant, but from a different original
The last figure, Figure 4, represents the electrophoresis of the fragmented DNA from the beginning experiment after all of the necessary steps were taken. Upon interpretation one may notice two bands, one upper and one lower. The
In order for these events to occur forward and reverse oligonucleotide primers, nucleotides (dNTPs), and Taq polymerase must to be added to the PCR solution. The oligonulceotide primers complimentary to the target sequence and can be used as probes to detect the target sequence of DNA that will be used in PCR (Cox et al., 2012). The dNTPs act as building blocks for the new DNA strands that will be amplified and Taq polymerase is a thermostable enzyme used to create new DNA strands from the template (Cox et al., 2012)
The mixture was heated to denature the template DNA, then cooled so that the primer can bind to the single-stranded template. Once the primer has been bound, the temperature was raised again, allowing DNA polymerase to synthesize new DNA starting from the primer. The DNA polymerase will continue adding nucleotides to the chain until it add a dideoxy nucleotide instead of a normal one. At that point, no further nucleotides can be added, so that the strand will end with the dideoxy nucleotide. The process was repeated in a number of cycles. At the end of cycle, the dideoxy nucleotide will be incorporated at every single position of the target DNA in at least one reaction. That is, the tube will contain fragments of different lengths, ending at each of the nucleotide positions in the original DNA. The ends of the fragments will be labeled with dyes that will be indicating their final nucleotide. The fragments won’t be labelled and a matter of chance whether a dideoxy nucleotide gets incorporated in a particular polymerization reaction. Some of the newly synthesized pieces of DNA will consist only of normal, unlabeled nucleotides, and will simply end when the
Then, in the second steps of PCR, which is Annealing, PCR copies only a particular order of genetic code, aimed by 2 PCR primers, which is used for 2 single DNA strands. During step two, the temperature is lowered to about 58 degrees Celsius in order to allow two primers to attach. In the end of step two, the two strands are ready to be duplicated (Paraphrase from here). In the third phase of the reaction, which is extension, the temperature is increased to 72 degrees Celsius. At the beginning, nucleotides are added to the annealed primers by the DNA polymerase to create a new strand of DNA complementary to each of the single template strands. Moreover, in 3’ to 5’ direction, the polymerase attaches to the primer and base pairs in order to reform original structure and form hydrogens bonds. When the mixture continues to be reheated, it will keep the cycle running until primers and nucleotides is enough to synthesize new strands. (Reference)
First off, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) consist of four reaction components, such as template DNA, DNA polymerase, primers, and buffers. First component, template DNA which can be taken from a person’s skin cells and later be amplified. Next
Once placed in the thermal cycler the micture will be increased to heat at 94o for 3 minutes and again for another minute, then cooled at 52o for 1 minute and risen to 72o for 2 minutes. The steps of heating for a minute, cooling for a minute, and room temperature for 2 minutes is repeated another 34 times. The mixture then stays at room temperature for another 10 minutes and held at 4o for until placed in a freezer. The last part of this lab is doing electrophoresis of PCR. The mixtures must be thawed out and put in the ice bucket, Two new tubes are created: a DNA tube and a water tube. Twenty microliters of the PCR micture must be added to both the DNA and water tubes. The gel dye must be added to the two tubes before continuing with electrophoresis. The final step is adding both tubes solutions to agarose gel and a picture taken of the new DNA ladder created. Materials used for PCR amplication ar ethe following: gloves, PCR tube, DNA template, PCR Master Mix, ice bucket,
Background: Polymerase Chain reaction (PCR) is an in vitro process that enables exponential amplification of the define target DNA sequence. The process involves three steps: denaturation, annealing and elongation. In the first step, the reaction mixture containing target
The second stage of the process is complementary base pairing. In this stage, new complementary nucleotides are positioned following the rules of complementary base pairing: adenine (A) to thymine (T) and guanine (G) to cytosine (C). Then, the binding of free nucleotide with complementary bases is catalyzed by DNA polymerase.
The polymerase chain reaction or PCR for short can be used to create many copies of DNA. This allows the DNA to then be visualized using a dye like ethidium bromide after gel electrophoresis. The process has been refined over the years, however the basic steps are similar.