1. Primer Annealing – temperature is lowered so that primers attach to DNA strands
2. Extension – DNA polymerase (e.g. Taq) helps to make new DNA strands.
The PCR cycle continues as DNA is copied exponentially. The original PCR methods allowed detection of DNA growth at the end of the process; however the introduction Real Time-PCR (RT-PCR) has allowed DNA amplification progress to be monitored throughout the assay (6).
RT-PCR is often confused with reverse-transcriptase PCR (rt-PCR), however rt-PCR is a method of detecting RNA by utilising reverse transcriptase to synthesise cDNA by. cDNA is then amplified and detected by PCR techniques (6).
RT-PCR has now advanced so that assays can now screen several viral DNA/RNA at once (Multiplex PCR). The Roche - Cobas TaqScreen MPX Test v2.0 encompasses an rt-PCR stage to allow detection of:
• HIV-1 Group M (RNA)
• HIV-1 Group O (RNA)
• HIV-2 (RNA)
• HCV (DNA)
• HBV (DNA)
(5)
MPX PCR uses several gene specific primers (forward and reverse strands) within a reaction mix. Internal controls are present within the testing kit, making the process highly efficient. By combining several tests on one platform, this is a very lean method testing; however there is a small risk of cross-hybridisation due to the volume of different primers used (5,6).
An added benefit of using RT-PCR to screen viral targets is that they shorten the detection window period of some viruses. This means, even if a viral marker can be detected serologically
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).
Real time RT-PCR and other molecular tests can also be an effective diagnostic tools. The molecular tests detect viral genetic material in respiratory system with swab samples collected from the throat and nasal cavity to correctly identify the infection.
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.
Total RNA was extracted using the Trizol extraction kit (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA). First-Strand Synthesis System for RT-PCR (Invitrogen) was used to synthesize cDNA from 1.5 μg total RNA according to the oligo (dT) version of the protocol. Real-time PCR was performed using CFX Fast real-time PCR system (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., Hercules, CA). The following cycle parameters were used for all experiments: 20s at 94°C, 30s at 60°C, and 30s at 72°C for a total of 45 cycles. The relative level of mRNA for a specific gene was normalized to GAPDH levels. Table 1 shows the sequences for all primer sets used in these
Routine confirmation of coronavirus infection based on detection of unique sequences of viral RNA by real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and sequencing. Any testing for the presence of this virus must be performed in appropriately equipped laboratories by staff trained in the pertinent technical and safety procedures. A number of RT-PCR assays that are specific for the coronavirus develop and publish. Currently described tests include an assay targeting upstream of the E protein gene (upE)1 and assays targeting the open reading frame 1b (ORF 1b) gene1 and the open reading frame 1a (ORF 1a) gene2. The assay for the upE target is considered highly sensitive, with the ORF 1a assay considered of equal sensitivity. The ORF 1b assay is considered less sensitive than the ORF 1a assay but may be more specific (12).
A fragment of DNA was then amplified using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) with a forward primer and a reverse primer. PCR is a technique used to make as many copies as possible of a specific section of the DNA extracted. The five necessities for PCR to be successful is the DNA template that one wants to copy, a buffer, nucleotides (ATCG), polymerase, and primers. PCR occurs in 3 stages: (1) Denaturing, (2) Annealing, and (3) Extending. During the Denaturing stage, the stand containing the DNA template (in this case the fetus’) is heated to separate the double stranded DNA. Next during the Annealing stage, the stand is then cooled to allow the primers to attach to a specific location on the single stranded DNA template (primers are usually 20 to 30 bases long). Lastly during the Extending stage, the stand’s temperature is increased to permit the making of new DNA by a specific DNA polymerase. The result is multiple new strands of DNA that has been successfully copied (What is PCR, WEB), followed by electrophoresis in 1% agarose gel. Electrophoresis is a technique commonly used to separate DNA, RNA, and proteins according to their sizes. The result was then purified with a PCR purification kit (removing any remaining DNTPs, or nucleotides that could result in contamination). The products were
PCR means Polymerase Chain Reaction, PCR is a technique used to analyze DNA. If we add the right primers for Ebola we will see Ebola DNA grow and no other DNA. What is a primer? It is a short strand of DNA or RNA (18-22 bases) it serves as a good starting point for DNA synthesis and it is essential for DNA replication. Why? The enzymes that catalyze the process can add new nucleotides to an existing strand of DNA.
All DNA tests were changed in accordance with 100 ng/μl. A 1000 ng (1 μl) aliquot of every example's DNA was utilized for a 50 μl PCR response. The 16S all inclusive eubac-terial preliminaries 530F (5'- GTG CCA GCM GCN GCG G) and 1100R (5'- GGG TTN CGN TCG TTG) were utilized for increasing the 600 bp area of 16S rRNA qualities. HotStar Taq Plus Master Mix Kit (QIAGEN Inc.) was utilized for PCR under the accompanying condi-tions: 94°C for 3 min took after by 32 cycles of 94°C for 30 sec; 60°C for 40 sec and 72°C for 1 min; and a last prolongation venture at 72°C for 5 min. A second-ary PCR was performed for FLX (Roche, Nutley, NJ) amplicon sequencing under the same condition by using designed special fusion primers with differ-ent tag sequences: LinkerA-Tags-530F and LinkerB-1100R. The resultant individual sample after parsing the tags into individual FASTA files was assembled using CAP3. The ace files generated by CAP3 were then processed to generate a secondary FASTA file containing the tentative consensus (TC) sequences of the assembly along with the number of reads in-tegrated into each consensus. The TC was required to have at least a 3-fold coverage. The resulting TC FASTA for each sample was then evaluated using BLASTn (Altschul et al., 1990) against a custom data-base derived from the RDP-II database (Cole et al., 2005) and GenBank website (http://www.ncbi.nlm. nih.gov/). The sequences contained within the
Mullis new method is so significant, he was awarded the Nobel Prize. Polymerase chain reaction is a four step highly specific and rapid method, that can produce billions of copies of DNA, within a test tube in a small amount of time. This process, outlined below, will repeat and as more cycles are completed, the amount of DNA produced will increase as well. The first step in the PCR chain, is the DNA sample itself being heated to the high temperature of 95℃, resulting in the denaturation of the double-stranded DNA, into single-strands. The DNA using two nucleotide primers, is cooled to an approximate temperature of 55℃. Each primer are compatible to each 3’ end of the DNA fragments to magnify it. The reason for the cooling temperature, is because it allows the primers to anneal, with the 3’ end of the single stranded DNA to also be magnified. The third step, in this process, requires the sample to be heated again, but to a slightly less temperature of 72℃, which Mullis found to be the optimal temperature for Taq polymerase, which is a specific kind of DNA polymerase used for the PCR. Without the isolation of the DNA polymerase from the heat-loving bacteria, which ultimately makes PCR able to work. The same as different DNA polymerase enzymes, by adding a nucleotide to the ends of the DNA(using base pairing), it synthesizes. Like stated before, the
PCR is an efficient molecular genetic diagnostic process. However, there are 4 main reasons that can make this diagnosis failing to give a precise result, which are the carry of PCR inhibitors in sample, the lack of optimization of the PCR primer and probe design, the lack of investigation in standard curve and the inaccurate sample and reagent pipetting (reference).
Optimization following primer design. Once primers have been designed, the assay must be optimized including similar melting temperatures for all of the primers to allow the primers to be run in one thermal cycling protocol resulting in adequate amplification of all amplicons. Since a good indication of success of sequencing reactions is the quality of the PCR template, data collected in the validation process from argarose gels can be used to determine the percentage of time that an amplicon amplifies without problems as illustrated in the example in Figure 11.
What steps are involved in carrying out PCR and biologically, what happens during each step? Why did we use PCR? (15 pts)
Drug resistance has become an obstacle in maximizing the clinical benefit of ART and consequently, routine HIV genotyping is recommended prior to ART initiation during viral rebounds and on the failure of an ART regimen. Successful PCR amplification of PR and RT genes is essential regardless of which method is used for sequencing. Results from this study show that not only it is possible to detect but also to characterize virus that continues to be produced in low levels in such patients. The samples with LLV were amplified to determine whether LLV present in patients on effective ART regimen resulted from the development of drug resistance. Out of the 31 samples that were amplified using the optimized protocol, seven had no product by the time library preparation was set up. The likelihood of the loss of PCR products during clean up exists. There is a high possibility of mishandling the sample during shipping and receiving of the samples. Instead of screw-cap tubes, the samples were shipped on a 96 well plate with a film on top, which is not ideal as per protocol. Additionally, the ice packs had melted by the time the lab received samples for sequencing. Since DNA does not evaporate easily, lack of proper shipping and storage techniques could have led to samples spilling or possible degradation.
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.