新定量PCR数据处理方法的理论探讨

日新月异的生命科学技术的发展及临床医学科学研究的需求,一般的PCR技术已远远不能满足工作的需要。PE公司在进行了大量的PCR动力学研究的基础上,发现了利用荧光标记探针在PCR循环过程中积累的荧光强度达到仪器捡出阈值时,系统的初始模板数量与循环次数之间有线性关系,据此建立了目前的PE 7700 、PE 5700仪器的定量PCR技术,开创了PCR技术的新局面。但是由于这一技术的误差较大,尚不能满足生命科学及临床医学科学研究的需求,因此需要继续研究新的定量PCR技术。PCR动力学数学模型是根据PCR 技术的原理提出的,能够准确描述PCR反应产物分子数量积累规律的动力学方程,给出了PCR产物数量或者荧光强度与初始模板数量及其他反应条件间的函数关系。利用这一关系,根据PCR反应已积累的产物数量,可以实现准确的定量PCR分析,得到初始模板数量达到定量PCR的目的。使用动力学数学模型做定量PCR分析,其结果的误差仅与使用的荧光强度数值的精确度相关。使用精确到6位数的荧光强度数据,模板数自100~1 000 000区间定量结果的准确性可达99%以上。本文根据模拟实验数据进行了初步的定量PCR分析,结果提示,目前的定量PCR仪器使用PCR动力学模型理论处理分析数据,定量分析的结果会比目前的CT值方法在准确性方面提高几十倍以上,可以满足各方面研究工作误差水平的需要。 Abstract:Today standard PCR can't satisfy the need of biotechnique development and clinical research any more.After numerous dynamic research,PE company found there is a linear relation between initial template number and cycling time when the accumulating fluorescent product is detectable.Therefore,they developed a quantitative PCR technique to be used in PE7700 and PE5700.But the error of this technique is too great to satisfy the need of biotechnique development and clinical research.A better quantitative PCR technique is needed.The mathematical model submitted here is combined with the achievement of relative science,and based on the PCR principle and careful analysis of molecular relationship of main members in PCR reaction system.This model describes the function relation between product quantity or fluorescence intensity and initial template number and other reaction conditions,and can reflect the accumulating rule of PCR product molecule accurately.Accurate quantitative PCR analysis can be made use this function relation.Accumulated PCR product quantity can be obtained from initial template number.Using this model to do quantitative PCR analysis,result error is only related to the accuracy of fluorescence intensity or the instrument used.For an example,when the fluorescence intensity is accurate to 6 digits and the template size is between 100 to 1 000 000,the quantitative result accuracy will be more than 99%.The difference of result error is distinct using same condition,same instrument but different analysis method.Moreover,if the PCR quantitative analysis system is used to process data,it will get result 80 times of accuracy than using CT method.     

M-PCR： a powerful method for rapid molecular identification of Trichogramma wasps （Hymenoptera： Trichogrammatidae）

Two species-specific primers were designed depending on ITS2 sequence variation of 37 Trichogramma wasps, and these primers were applied to establish an assay,multiplex PCR (M-PCR), for molecular diagnosis of two important Trichogramma wasps,T. confusum and T. dendrolimi, in China. Multiplex-PCR results showed that only target species produced two PCR products, one product of ITS2 region species-specific amplification and one product of its ITS 1 region universal amplification, but other species produced only one ITS1 universal PCR product. Using this method, the target Trichogramma species can be distinguished from other Trichogramma species. Molecular identification based on M-PCR has particular value over morphological technology and other approaches, such as normal molecular and biochemical methods. Furthermore, because M-PCR assay can avoid false negative results, which frequently happen in PCR reaction, this method will be much more accurate and useful for Trichogramma identification, and can be developed as an easy and rapid diagnostic kit applied in the identification and quality monitoring of Trichogramma mass products both in the factory and in the field. Such an easy and rapid diagnostic kit will be valuable in the application of Trichogramma species as a biological control.     

Micro Flow-Through Thermocycler with Simple Meandering Channel with Symmetric Temperature Zones for Disposable PCR-Devices in Microscope Slide Format

Chip-based flow-through PCR implements the PCR as a continuous process for nucleic acid analytics. The sample is transported in a winding channel through temperature zones required for denaturation, annealing and extension. Main fields of application are the monitoring of continuous processes for rapid identification of contaminants and quality control as well as high throughput screening of cells or microorganisms. A modular arrangement with five heating zones for flow-through PCR is discussed and evaluated. The special heater arrangement allows the implementation of up to 40 cycles on the footprint of a microscope slide, which is placed on top ofa 5 zones heating plate. Liquid/liquid two phase flow of PCR reaction mixture and mineral oil have been applied to create a segmented flow process scheme. In that way, the developed system may provide flow-through PCR as a unit operation for the droplet based microfluidics platform. The single use of disposable devices is commonly preferred due to the sensitivity of the PCR process to contaminations. All-glass microfluidic chips and disposable chip devices, made from polycarbonate as a replication with identically geometry, have been fabricated and tested. For the first time, microchannel geometries with nearly circular profile developed by all-glass technology have been transferred to mass fabrication by injection compression molding. Both devices have been successfully applied for the detection of the tumor suppressor gene p53. Although product yield and selectivity of the amplification process do not depend on the chip material, a well defined, reliable segmented flow regime could only be realized in the all-glass chip.     

A hot start alternative for high-fidelity DNA polymerase amplification mediated by quantum dots

Quantum dots （QDs） are of great interest due to their unique chemical and physical properties. Recently, a hot start （HS） polymerase chain reaction （PCR） amplification performance based on QDs with a high-fidelity Pfu DNA polymerase has been reported. However, whether QDs can trigger HS effects with other high-fidelity or conventional DNA polymerases is yet to be understood. In the present study, we studied the QD-triggered HS effects with four high-fidelity and three conventional DNA polymerases, and the HS effect comparisons among them were also made. It was found that QDs could trigger a distinct HS PCR amplification performance with all the four tested high,fidelity DNA polymerases, and specific target DNA could be well amplified even if the PCR mixture was preincubated for 2 h at 50℃. On the contrary, the HS effects were not prominent with all the three conventional Taq DNA polymerases. Specifically, the fidelity of Pfu is not sacrificed in the presence of QDs, even after a 1 h pre-incu- bation at 50℃ before PCR. Furthermore, the electrophoresis results preliminarily demonstrated that QDs prefer to adsorb high-fidelity polymerases rather than conventional ones, which might result in the QD-triggered HS effects on PCR performance by using high-fidelity DNA poly- merases.     

猪流行性腹泻病毒嵌套式RT—PCR检测方法的建立

Two pairs of primers were designed according to the N gene sequence of PEDV-CV777 strain in Genebank (No. AF353511). PCR amplification product of outer-primers was 1328bp, and the inter-primers amplification product was 538bp, With the primers, a nested PCR assay was established to detect PEDV. This method was sensitive and specific and could be used in PEDV diagnosis and epidemiological investigation.     

Cloning and identification of methionine synthase gene from Pichia pastoris

Methionine synthase (MS) is grouped into two classes. Class One MS (MetH) and Class Two MS (MetE) share no homology and differ in their catalytic model. Based on the conserved sequences of metE genes from different organisms, a segment of the metE gene was first cloned from Pichia pastoris genomic DNA by PCR, and its 5‘ and 3‘ regions were further cloned by 5‘- and 3‘-rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE), respectively. The assembled sequence reveals an open reading frame encoding a polypeptide of 768 residues, and the deduced product shares 76% identity with MetE of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. P. pastoris methionine synthase (PpMetE) consists of two domains common to MetEs. The active site is located in the C-terminal domain, in which the residues involved in the interaction of zinc with substrates are conserved. Homologous expression of PpMetE in P. pastoris was achieved, and the heterologous expression of PpMetE in the S. cerevisiae strain XJB3-1D that is MetE-defective restored the growth of the mutant on methionine-free minimal media. The gene sequence has been submitted to GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ under accession No. AY601648.     

半嵌套式PCR技术区别检测犬细小病毒疫苗株和强毒株的研究

Two pairs of PCR primers were designed according to the sequances of the vaccine strain and virulent strain of CPV. Heminested PCR method was established. Result of the first PCR amplification showed the same amplified products of 574bp length, after the second PCR amplification, the virulent strain produced the length 364bp fragment, but the vaccine strain couldn' t produce that. The products of PCR were examined by electrophoresis and restriction enzyme digestion. The result showed the length of the fragment and enzyme sites were as the same as those designed. The PCR assay of CPV was proved to be specific and sensitive. It shows that this method may be used in discriminating the vaccine strain and virulent strain of CPV or monitoring the vaccinated canine in order to aviod disease and financial losing.     

Threshold dynamics of a multi-group SEAR alcoholism model with public health education

In this paper, we investigate the threshold dynamics of a multi-group SEAR alcoholism epidemic model with public health education. The multi-group model allows us to describe interactions both within-group and inter-group separately. We prove that the basic reproduction number R0 plays the role of a threshold for the long-time behavior of the model. The alcohol-free equilibrium P0 of the model is globally asymptotically stable if R0≤1,while the alcohol-present equilibrium P* exists uniquely and is globally asymptotically stable if R0>1.For the proofs of main results, we use the classical method of Lyapunov functions and apply subtle grouping technique in estimating the derivatives of Lyapunov functions guided by graph theory. Our results expand the previous results which have been obtained in single-group models. Sensitivity analysis and numerical simulations are also performed to illustrate our results.     

Revisiting the sigmoidal curve fitting applied to quantitative real-time PCR data

Amplification of a cDNA product by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) gives rise to fluorescence sigmoidal curves from which absolute or relative target gene content of the sample is inferred. Besides comparative C(t) methods that require the construction of a reference standard curve, other methods that focus on the analysis of the sole amplification curve have been proposed more recently. Among them, the so-called sigmoidal curve fitting (SCF) method rests on the fitting of an empirical sigmoidal model to the experimental amplification data points, leading to the prediction of the amplification efficiency and to the calculation of the initial copy number in the sample. The implicit assumption of this method is that the sigmoidal model may describe an amplification curve quantitatively even in the portion of the curve where the fluorescence signal is hidden in the noise band. The theoretical basis of the SCF method was revisited here for defining the class of experimental amplification curves for which the method might be relevant. Applying the SCF method to six well-characterized different PCR assays illustrated possible pitfalls leading to biased estimates of the amplification efficiency and, thus, of the target gene content of a sample.     

The ligation amplification reaction (LAR)--amplification of specific DNA sequences using sequential rounds of template-dependent ligation

A novel DNA sequence detection method that utilizes the ligation of oligonucleotide pairs that are complementary to adjacent sites on appropriate DNA templates is described. The product is increased by either linear or exponential amplification using sequential rounds of template-dependent ligation. In the case of linear amplification, a single pair of oligonucleotides is ligated, the reaction is heated to dissociate the ligation product, and an additional round of ligation is performed. After n rounds there is a (1 + x) X n-fold amplification of product, where x is the efficiency of the ligation reaction. Exponential amplification utilizes two pairs of oligonucleotides, one complementary to the upper strand and one to the lower strand of a target sequence. The products of the ligation reaction serve as templates for subsequent rounds of ligation. In this case there is (1 + x)(n-1)-fold amplification of product after n rounds. A single base-pair mismatch between the annealed oligonucleotides and the template prevents ligation, thus allowing the distinction of single base-pair differences between DNA templates. At high template concentrations, the ligation reaction has an efficiency approaching 100%. In this report, we demonstrate the use of the ligation amplification reaction (LAR) to distinguish the normal from the sickle cell allele of the human beta-globin gene. We also report the use of LAR as a detection system for polymerase chain reaction-enriched DNA sequences.     

Random variation and concentration effects in PCR

Even though the efficiency of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) reaction decreases, analyses are made in terms of Galton-Watson processes, or simple deterministic models with constant replication probability (efficiency). Recently, Schnell and Mendoza have suggested that the form of the efficiency, can be derived from enzyme kinetics. This results in the sequence of molecules numbers forming a stochastic process with the properties of a branching process with population size dependence, which is supercritical, but has a mean reproduction number that approaches one. Such processes display ultimate linear growth, after an initial exponential phase, as is the case in PCR. It is also shown that the resulting stochastic process for a large Michaelis-Menten constant behaves like the deterministic sequence x(n) arising by iterations of the function f(x)=x+x/(1+x).     

痘病毒科不同病毒属特异的PCR检测方法的建立

目的:建立可准确、快速地鉴别诊断可感染人的不同属痘病毒的特异PCR方法。方法:设计针对正痘病毒属、副痘病毒属和传染性软疣病毒属的多对特异引物,并制备相应的DNA模板,针对不同的模板优化引物与反应条件,分别进行检测筛选,建立病毒属特异的单独与多重PCR方法。结果:单一模板的PCR扩增反应中,正痘病毒的检测敏感性可达101拷贝/μL(引物为OPEaL-F1880/OPEaL-R2057),副痘病毒的检测敏感性可达101拷贝/μL(引物为PP2/PP3),传染性软疣病毒的检测敏感性为100 pg/μL体系(引物为MCV1/MCV2);混合模板的PCR扩增反应中,各属特异的引物均可获得预期大小的特异片段。结论:我们建立的PCR诊断方法,可用于痘病毒科不同病毒属感染的实验室特异快速鉴别诊断。     

Mating Type Determination of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii by PCR

We describe a quick and reliable protocol to determine the plus or minus mating type of haploid Chlamydomonas reinhardtii strains from very small amounts of cells. The method combines a fast DNA preparation adapted from forensic work of Walsh et al. (1991) with one for use with Chlamydomonas by Berthold et al. (1993). We used PCR to amplify the minus-specific mid gene (minus dominance) or the plus specific fus1 gene (fusion). Both primer pairs have the same optimum annealing temperature and could be used in the same PCR reaction. The fus1 and mid amplification products could be distinguished by agarose gel electrophoresis due to their different PCR product size. Diploid strains, which should have both mating type genes, could also be detected by the occurrence of both amplification products.     

New insights into the de novo gene synthesis using the automatic kinetics switch approach

Here we present a simple, highly efficient, universal automatic kinetics switch (AKS) gene synthesis method that enables synthesis of DNA up to 1.6 kbp from 1 nM oligonucleotide with just one polymerase chain reaction (PCR) process. This method eliminates the interference between the PCR assembly and amplification in one-step gene synthesis and simultaneously maximizes the amplification of emerged desired DNA by using a pair of flanked primers. In addition, we describe an analytical model of PCR gene synthesis based on the thermodynamics and kinetics of DNA hybridization. The kinetics difference between standard PCR amplification and one-step PCR gene synthesis is analyzed using this model and is validated using real-time gene synthesis with eight gene segments (318-1656 bp). The effects of oligonucleotide concentration, stringency of annealing temperature, annealing time, extension time, and PCR buffer conditions are examined systematically. Analysis of the experimental results leads to new insights into the gene synthesis process and aids in optimizing gene synthesis conditions. We further extend this method for multiplexing gene assembly with a total DNA length up to 5.74 kbp from 1 nM oligonucleotide.     

高GC含量DNA模板的PCR扩增

目的：探索高GC含量DNA的PCR扩增条件,为扩增达托霉素生物合成基因簇及拼接奠定基础。方法：在PCR扩增体系中,使用高保真的聚合酶及添加不同浓度的DMSO、7-deaza-dGTP等增强剂,并选择合适的PCR循环程序,优化富含GC的DNA的PCR扩增条件。结果：向反应体系中额外添加1%~4%的DMSO可以显著提高富含GC的DNA的PCR扩增产物量,但会降低其特异性;7-deaza-dGTP可以提高扩增产物的特异性及保真度,但产量会有所下降。应用touch down PCR并在体系中添加7-deaza-dGTP能够提高扩增产物的特异性和产率,增加扩增的保真度。结论：应用优化的PCR扩增条件将所有达托霉素生物合成基因簇分段扩增出来,并可扩增出长达6 kb的片段,且序列完全正确,可以进行后续拼接。     

A quantitative Real Time PCR based method for the detection of Phytophthora infestans causing Late blight of potato,in infested soil

A fast and simple polymerase chain reaction method has been developed for detection of Phytophthora infestans oospores, the causal agent of Late blight of Potato in soil. The method involves the disruption of oospores by grinding dry soil, using abrasive properties, in the presence of glass powder and skimmed milk powder within a short time. The latter prevents loss of DNA by adsorption to soil particles or by degradation and reduces the co-extraction of PCR inhibitors with the DNA. After phenol/chloroform extraction; the DNA is suitable for direct PCR amplification without a precipitation step. This amplification leads to detection of pathogen in infested soils before planting of crop. The real-time PCR assay we describe is highly sensitive and specific, and has several advantages over conventional PCR assays used for P. infestans detection to confirm positive inoculum level in potato seeds and elsewhere. With increasing amounts of standard DNA templates, the respective threshold cycle (Ct) values were determined and a linear relationship was established between these Ct values and the logarithm of initial template amounts. The method is rapid, cost efficient, and when combined with suitable internal controls can be applied to the detection and quantification of P. infestans oospores on a large-scale basis.     

Uniform amplification of multiple DNAs by emulsion PCR

When several DNAs are amplified by PCR in one PCR tube, biased amplification is known to occur because amplification efficiency differs from one DNA to another. Therefore, we conducted PCR in the water in oil-emulsion (W/O emulsion) to examine whether the procedure allows the uniform amplification of several DNAs. In the amplification of a model library consisting of two clones, the emulsification of the PCR mixture successfully reduced the difference in its amplification efficiency to approximately one-seventh the value obtained without emulsification. Furthermore, we conducted repeated PCR to amplify a model library consisting of ten short hairpin RNA (shRNA) expression vectors as a model experiment for gene discovery using an shRNA expression library. Consequently, the emulsification of the PCR mixture successfully reduced PCR bias. Our results indicate that emulsion PCR is capable of uniformly amplifying libraries of shRNA, ribozyme, cDNA, and others, and is useful also for gene discovery using these libraries.