Single-molecule polymerase chain reaction reduces bias: application to DNA methylation analysis by bisulfite sequencing

The treatment of DNA with bisulfite, which converts C to U but leaves 5-methyl-C unchanged, forms the basis of many analytical techniques for DNA methylation analysis. Many techniques exist for measuring the methylation state of a single CpG but, for analysis of an entire region, cloning and sequencing remains the gold standard. However, biases in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and in cloning can skew the results. We hypothesized that single-molecule PCR (smPCR) amplification would eliminate the PCR amplification bias because competition between templates that amplify at different efficiencies no longer exists. The amplified products can be sequenced directly, thus eliminating cloning bias. We demonstrated this accurate and unbiased approach by analyzing a sample that was expected to contain a 50:50 ratio of methylated to unmethylated molecules: a region of the X-linked FMR1 gene from a human female cell line. We compared traditional cloning and sequencing to smPCR and sequencing. Sequencing smPCR products gave an expected methylated to unmethylated ratio of 48:52, whereas conventional cloning and sequencing gave a biased ratio of 72:28. Our results show that smPCR sequencing can eliminate both PCR and cloning bias and represents an attractive approach to bisulfite sequencing.     

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification of single pollen grains

The polymerase chain reaction(PCR) has been a reliable and fruitful method for many applications in ecology.Nevertheless, unavoidable technical and instrumental requirements of PCR have limited its widespread application in field situations. The recent development of isothermal DNA amplification methods provides an alternative to PCR, which circumvents key limitations of PCR for direct amplification in the field. Being able to analyze DNA in the pollen cloud of an ecosystem would provide very useful ecological information, yet would require a field-enabled, high-throughput method for this potential to be realized. Here, we demonstrate the applicability of the loop-mediated DNA amplification method(LAMP), an isothermal DNA amplification technique, to be used in pollen analysis. We demonstrate that LAMP can provide a reliable method to identify species from the pollen cloud, and that it can amplify successfully with sensitivity down to single pollen grains, thus opening the possibility of field-based, high-throughput analysis.     

Loop‐mediated isothermal amplification of single pollen grains

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been a reliable and fruitful method for many applications in ecology. Nevertheless, unavoidable technical and instrumental requirements of PCR have limited its widespread application in field situations. The recent development of isothermal DNA amplification methods provides an alternative to PCR, which circumvents key limitations of PCR for direct amplification in the field. Being able to analyze DNA in the pollen cloud of an ecosystem would provide very useful ecological information, yet would require a field‐enabled, high‐throughput method for this potential to be realized. Here, we demonstrate the applicability of the loop‐mediated DNA amplification method (LAMP), an isothermal DNA amplification technique, to be used in pollen analysis. We demonstrate that LAMP can provide a reliable method to identify species from the pollen cloud, and that it can amplify successfully with sensitivity down to single pollen grains, thus opening the possibility of field‐based, high‐throughput analysis.     

MethyScan：一种甲基化特异性PCR引物设计及评估工具

DNA甲基化是重要的表观遗传现象,对基因表达发挥重要调控功能.大量研究表明,基因DNA甲基化是重要的临床诊断生物标志物.在临床上,实施快速、准确的DNA甲基化状态检测是诊断应用的前提和关键.甲基化特异性PCR(methylation specific PCR,MSP)通过将两种引物与甲基化、非甲基化模板各自特异性结合和扩增,实现基因甲基化状态的区分,是切实可行、简单便捷的临床诊断实验技术.但是,不同于常规PCR,MSP主要存在如何强化引物-甲基化/非甲基化模板特异性结合、降低引物序列Tm值差异、去除假阳性扩增及提高敏感性等四大难点.尽管大多数MSP引物设计软件对上述难题都提出了各自解决办法,但在引物设计影响因素考虑、设计与评估并行处理及特异性扩增预测等方面仍然存在较大缺陷.为此,本研究通过对MethPrimer、MSPPrimer、MethBlast、BiSearch等现有MSP引物设计软件原理的深入探究,以及对Bowtie、SAMtools和BEDTools等工具的有效综合整合,基于图形库Matplotlib和第三方Python功能库BioPython与Primer3-py实现了具有系列优点的甲基化特异性PCR引物设计与评估可视化工具MethyScan.它具有引物设计、基因组索引、引物评估等三大完整功能模块,不仅可快速进行MSP引物设计,实现巢式(Nested)引物适配,还可基于4种基因组碱基转换模板分析引物结合信息,图形化展示非特异性扩增与目的片段差异,从而综合评估引物特异性-非特异性扩增.同时,对食管癌、结直肠癌等多种恶性肿瘤中6个潜在生物标志物TFPI-2、NDRG4、CDKN2A、CD44、CASP8和SDHD的甲基化引物设计对比结果表明,MethyScan不仅可获得更多CpG位点的检测引物,而且所获得MSP引物位置与其他软件结果相同或相近,且引物间Tm值差值更小.总之,作为首个图形化展示特异性-非特异性扩增差异MSP引物设计工具,MethyScan可有效提高甲基化引物设计准确性,为临床DNA甲基化检测项目开展、检测试验实施及诊断试剂盒研发提供有力支撑.MethyScan工具下载地址:https://github.com/bioinfo-ibms-pumc/MethyScan.     

High-resolution melt analysis of DNA methylation to discriminate semen in biological stains

The goal of this study was to develop a method for the detection of semen in biological stains using high-resolution melt (HRM) analysis and DNA methylation. To perform this task, we used an epigenetic locus that targets a tissue-specific differentially methylated region for semen. This specific locus, ZC3H12D, contains methylated CpG sites that are hypomethylated in semen and hypermethylated in blood and saliva. Using this procedure, DNA from forensic stains can be isolated, processed using bisulfite-modified polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and detected by real-time PCR with HRM capability. The method described in this article is robust; we were able to obtain results from samples with as little as 1 ng of genomic DNA. Samples inhibited by humic acid still produced reliable results. Furthermore, the procedure is specific and will not amplify non-bisulfite-modified DNA. Because this process can be performed using real-time PCR and is quantitative, it fits nicely within the workflow of current forensic DNA laboratories. As a result, it should prove to be a useful technique for processing trace evidence samples for serological analysis.     

Endonuclease-mediated long PCR and its application to restriction mapping

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is the most widely used technique for the study of DNA. Applications for PCR have been extended significantly by the development of "long" PCR, a technique that makes it possible to amplify DNA fragments up to 40 kb in length. This article describes two novel applications of the long PCR technique, one which simplifies restriction mapping and another which enhances amplification specificity and yield. The same primers used to perform the long PCR amplification can be used as probes to perform restriction mapping of the DNA fragment amplified. Restriction digestion performed prior to long PCR amplification can be used to selectively suppress the amplification of members of families of closely related DNA sequences, thereby making it possible to selectively amplify one of a group of highly homologous sequences. These two complimentary techniques, both involving use of the long PCR paired with restriction digestion, have potential application in any laboratory in which PCR is performed.     

利用孕妇血浆DNA检测胎儿性别的研究

本文探讨应用孕妇血浆中游离DNA进行无创性产前性别诊断的可行性。用柱分离法提取73例孕妇血浆中DNA,用巢式PCR技术检测其胎儿SRY基因。 结果73位孕妇血浆DNA含量为0.0062~0.3399μg/μL。巢式PCR检测胎儿SRY基因的灵敏度为97.37%（37/38）,假阴性率2.86%(1/35),特异度85.71%（30/35）,假阳性率13.16%(5/38),总符合率91.78%（67/73）。采用孕妇血浆胎儿DNA和巢式PCR技术可以快速简便的进行无创性产前性别诊断,诊断结果的准确率为91.8%,对性连锁遗传病的预防具有重要意义。 Abstract:To investigate the feasibility and possibility of application of fetal DNA from maternal plasma for noninvasive prenatal diagnosis of fetal sex,plasma DNAs in blood samples of 73 pregnant women at the gestational period of 26 to 41 weeks were extracted by column separation and nested polymerase chain reaction were employed to amplify the SRY gene.A comparison was made between the amplification results and the real sex of the fetus after their delivery.The concordance rate of SRY gene amplification results of plasma free DNA with real fetal sex was 91.78% (67/73),the sensitivity rate was 97.37% (37/38),and the specific rate was 85.71% (30/35).The cell-free fetal DNA in maternal blood can be one of the valuable material sources for noninvasive prenatal diagnosis and the method of nested PCR could be useful for fetal sex determination.The specific rate of the test was 91.78%.It is of significance to prevent sex-linked inheritant diseases.     

Pushing the limits for amplifying BrdU-labeled DNA encoding 16S rRNA: DNA polymerase as the determining factor

Identifying microorganisms that are active under specific conditions in ecosystems is a challenge in microbial ecology. Recently, the bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) technique was developed to label actively growing cells. BrdU, a thymidine analog, is incorporated into newly synthesized DNA, and the BrdU-labeled DNA is then isolated from total extractable DNA by immunocapture using a BrdU-specific antibody. Analyzing the BrdU-labeled DNA allows for assessing the actively growing community, which can then be compared to the unlabeled DNA that represents the total community. However, applying the BrdU approach to study soils has been problematic due to low DNA amounts and soil contaminants. To address these challenges, we developed a protocol, optimizing specificity and reproducibility, to amplify BrdU-labeled gene fragments encoding 16S rRNA. We found that the determining factor was the DNA polymerase: among the 13 different polymerases we tested, only 3 provided adequate yields with minimal contamination, and only two of those three produced similar amplification patterns of community DNA.     

Nuclear DNA-based markers for plant evolutionary biology

While DNA-based markers can provide a wealth of information for the study of plant evolutionary biology, progress is limited by the lack of primers available for PCR. To overcome this limitation, we outline a protocol for developing oligonucleotide primers targeting regions of low copy-number nuclear genes. This protocol is intended to lead to universally useful primer sets. To test our approach, we designed eight primer sets and tested their abilities to amplify targets from representatives of each dicot and one monocot subclass. Five of the eight primer sets amplified targets from at least five of the seven taxa and thus exhibited broad taxonomic usefulness; the remaining primers were rather specific, however, and amplified targets from at most three taxa. In only one primer-taxon combination was a complex multiple-banded amplification produced. Overall, the protocol outlined proved quite useful at identifying broadly applicable primers targeted to low copy-number nuclear genes. Wider application of this approach should be effective at greatly increasing the amount of genetic information available for a diversity of plant nuclear genomes.     

Simultaneous amplification and screening of whole plasmids using the T7 bacteriophage replisome

This study describes a novel helicase-mediated isothermal DNA amplification method that exponentially amplifies circular DNAs. The circular helicase-dependent amplification (cHDA) system is based on the T7 replication machinery, which includes the processive T7 helicase, an exonuclease-deficient T7 DNA polymerase (T7 Sequenase) and the T7 Gp2.5 single-stranded DNA-binding (SSB) protein. After the duplex DNA template is unwound by the T7 helicase, specific primers anneal to the separated DNA strands and T7 Sequenase extends the 3′ end of each primer by a rolling circle mechanism to amplify not only a region defined by the primers but also continuous concatemers of the template. The cHDA reaction can be carried out at one temperature (25°C) for the entire process and can achieve up to 10000-fold amplification. Amplification can be performed using purified plasmid DNA or a crude cell lysate and can amplify inserts as large as 10 kb. Following a cHDA reaction, the amplified products can be used directly for sequencing and restriction enzyme digestion without further purification. By utilizing the helicase enzyme, circular DNA samples can be simultaneously screened and amplified at one constant temperature in one easy step.     

A novel assay for allelic discrimination that combines the fluorogenic 5' nuclease polymerase chain reaction (TaqMan) and mismatch amplification mutation assay

Recently much attention has been focused on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within fundamentally important genes, such as those involved in metabolism, cell growth regulation, and other disease-associated genes. Methodologies for discriminating different alleles need to be specific (robust detection of an altered sequence in the presence of wild-type DNA) and preferably, amenable to high throughput screening. We have combined the fluorogenic 5' nuclease polymerase chain reaction (TaqMan) and the mismatch amplification mutation assay (MAMA) to form a novel assay, TaqMAMA, that can quickly and specifically detect single base changes in genomic DNA. TaqMan chemistry utilizes fluorescence detection during PCR to precisely measure the starting template concentration, while the MAMA assay exploits mismatched bases between the PCR primers and the wild-type template to selectively amplify specific mutant or polymorphic sequences. By combining these assays, the amplification of the mutant DNA can be readily detected by fluorescence in a single PCR reaction in 2 hours. Using the human TK6 cell line and specific HPRT-mutant clones as a model system, we have optimized the TaqMAMA technique to discriminate between mutant and wild-type DNA. Here we demonstrate that appropriately designed MAMA primer pairs preferentially amplify mutant genomic DNA even in the presence of a 1,000-fold excess of wild-type DNA. The ability to selectively amplify DNAs with single nucleotide changes, or the specific amplification of a low copy number mutant DNA in a 1,000-fold excess of wild-type DNA, is certain to be a valuable technique for applications such as allelic discrimination, detection of single nucleotide polymorphisms or gene isoforms, and for assessing hotspot mutations in tumor-associated genes from biopsies contaminated with normal tissue.     

Analysis of DNA methylation in different maize tissues

DNA methylation plays an important role in gene expression regulation during biological development and tissue differentiation in plants. This study adopted methylation-sensitive Amplified fragment length polymorphism （AFLP） to compare the levels of DNA cytosine methylation at CCGG sites in tassel, bracteal leaf, and ear leaf from maize inbred lines, 18 White and 18 Red, respectively, and also examined specific methylation patterns of the three tissues. Significant differences in cytosine methylation level among the three tissues and the same changing tendency in two inbred lines were detected. Both MSAP （methylation sensitive amplification polymorphism） ratio and full methylation level were the highest in bracteal leaf, and the lowest in tassel. Meanwhile, different methylation levels were observed in the same tissue from the inbred lines, 18 White and 18 Red. Full methylation of internal cytosine was the dominant type in the maize genome. The differential methylation patterns in the three tissues were observed. In addition, sequencing of nine differentially methylated fragments and the subsequent blast search revealed that the cytosine methylated 5 ＇ -CCGG-3 ＇ sequences were distributed in repeating sequences, in the coding and noncoding regions. Southern hybridization was used to verify the methylation polymorphism. These results clearly demonstrated the power of the MSAP technique for large-scale DNA methylation detection in the maize genome, and the complexity of DNA methylation change during plant growth and development. The different methylation levels may be related to specific gene expression in various tissues.     

动物种群遗传多态性研究中的PCR技术

基因组DNA的变异是种群遗传多态性研究的基础。PCR技术可以在反应管内经济快速地扩增特定DNA序列,在动物种群遗传多态性研究中的应用主要包括三个方面：(1)种群遗传多态位点的检测;(2)基因定位或利用已经定位的单拷贝基因设计染色体位点特异的分子标记;(3)与DNA测序技术相结合,高效经济地获取特定基因座位的全部遗传变异。     

Cubic regression-based degree of correction predicts the performance of whole bisulfitome amplified DNA methylation analysis

Epigenetic mechanisms, including DNA methylation, are important determinants in development and disease. There is a need for technologies capable of detecting small variations in methylation levels in an accurate and reproducible manner, even if only limited amounts of DNA are available (which is the case in many studies in humans). Quantitative methylation analysis of minute DNA amounts after whole bisulfitome amplification (qMAMBA) has been proposed as an alternative, but this technique has not been adequately standardized and no comparative study against conventional methods has been performed, that includes a wide range of methylation percentages and different target assays. We designed an experiment to compare the performance of qMAMBA and bisulfite-treated genomic (non-amplified) DNA pyrosequencing. Reactions were performed in duplicate for each technique in eight different target genes, using nine artificially constructed DNA samples with methylation levels ranging between 0% and 100% with intervals of 12.5%. Cubic polynomial curves were plotted from the experimental results and the real methylation values and the resulting equation was used to estimate new corrected data points. The use of the cubic regression-based correction benefits the accuracy and the power of discrimination in methylation studies. Additionally, dispersion of the new estimated data around a y = x line (R²) served to fix a cutoff that can discriminate, with a single 9-point curve experiment, whether whole bisulfitome amplification and subsequent qMAMBA can produce accurate methylation results. Finally, even with an optimized reagent kit, DNA samples subjected to whole bisulfitome amplification enhance the preferential amplification of unmethylated alleles, and subtle changes in methylation levels cannot be detected confidently.     

Cubic regression-based degree of correction predicts the performance of whole bisulfitome amplified DNA methylation analysis

Epigenetic mechanisms, including DNA methylation, are important determinants in development and disease. There is a need for technologies capable of detecting small variations in methylation levels in an accurate and reproducible manner, even if only limited amounts of DNA are available (which is the case in many studies in humans). Quantitative methylation analysis of minute DNA amounts after whole bisulfitome amplification (qMAMBA) has been proposed as an alternative, but this technique has not been adequately standardized and no comparative study against conventional methods has been performed, that includes a wide range of methylation percentages and different target assays. We designed an experiment to compare the performance of qMAMBA and bisulfite-treated genomic (non-amplified) DNA pyrosequencing. Reactions were performed in duplicate for each technique in eight different target genes, using nine artificially constructed DNA samples with methylation levels ranging between 0% and 100% with intervals of 12.5%. Cubic polynomial curves were plotted from the experimental results and the real methylation values and the resulting equation was used to estimate new corrected data points. The use of the cubic regression-based correction benefits the accuracy and the power of discrimination in methylation studies. Additionally, dispersion of the new estimated data around a y = x line (R²) served to fix a cutoff that can discriminate, with a single 9-point curve experiment, whether whole bisulfitome amplification and subsequent qMAMBA can produce accurate methylation results. Finally, even with an optimized reagent kit, DNA samples subjected to whole bisulfitome amplification enhance the preferential amplification of unmethylated alleles, and subtle changes in methylation levels cannot be detected confidently.     

DNA amplification in the field: move over PCR,here comes LAMP

It would not be an exaggeration to say that among molecular technologies, it is PCR (polymerase chain reaction) that underpins the discipline of molecular ecology as we know it today. With PCR, it has been possible to target the amplification of particular fragments of DNA, which can then be analysed in a multitude of ways. The capability of PCR to amplify DNA from a mere handful of copies further means that conservationists and ecologists are able to sample DNA unobtrusively and with minimal disturbance to the environment and the organisms of interest. However, a key disadvantage of PCR‐based methods has been the necessity for a generally non‐portable, laboratory setting to undertake the time‐consuming thermocycling protocols. LAMP (loop‐mediated isothermal amplification) offers a logistically simpler protocol: a relatively rapid DNA amplification reaction occurs at one temperature, and the products are visualized with a colour change within the reaction tubes. In the first field application of LAMP for an ecological study, Centeno‐Cuadros et al. ( 2016 ) demonstrates how LAMP can be used to determine the sex of three raptor species. By enabling DNA amplification in situ and in ‘real‐time’, LAMP promises to revolutionize how molecular ecology is practised in the field.     

Strategy for the analysis of tissue-specific methylation changes without physical isolation

One common experimental hurdle that arises when explore patterns of cytosine methylation is the generation of data derived from a single specific tissue, often arduous to isolate from a heterogeneous biospecimen. Here we show a new strategy for exploring environment- or mutation-caused changes in cell type- or tissue-specific methylation landscapes, which requires neither transgenic reporter cell lines nor physical separation. This approach takes advantage of a known distinct methylation signature existing in only one of the tissues within an organ under a particular condition. From the information on such compared published methylomes, one can design a set of PCR primers that specifically amplify bisulfite-converted DNA of two nearby genomic regions of interest, thus allowing for tissue-specific DNA methylation data. To validate the performance of the approach, we designed primers able to amplify a portion of a gene in the context of root biology: the Arabidopsis homeotic gene Glabra-2 (Gl2), expressed only in epidermis during cell differentiation. We found that the extent of methylated cytosines appears remarkably different when root epidermis-specific primers were used vs. non-specific ones under three genetic backgrounds involving mutations in genes also associated with the establishment of cell identity. Although the genetic or environmental perturbations to be studied might modify methylation in the primer-annealing zone, leading to a possible misinterpretation of the data, the strategy presented here can become a useful first round screening tool to detect differences in tissue-specific epigenetic status under new conditions.     

Amplification of DNA sequences in Epstein-Barr virus and human immunodeficiency virus using DNA polymerase from Thermus thermophilus

Using thermophilic DNA-polymerase from Thermus thermophilus we have amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) specific DNA sequences of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). DNA-polymerase from Thermus thermophilus (the molecular mass of 80 to 86 kDa) differs in its physico-chemical properties from DNA-polymerase from the Thermus acquaticus (the molecular mass of 62 to 68 kDa). To amplify the specific EBV DNA sequence oligonucleotide primers for the virus replicon region (oriP-region) were used. As a result of amplification, a specific 405 b.p. DNA fragment was produced. Primers for the virus Gag region were used for amplification of HIV DNA. The possibility to conduct amplification cycles under two temperature conditions was demonstrated.