Bacillus thuringiensis growth and toxicity

PCR-based amplification of nucleic acids has had a major impact in almost every field of basic research and has already found extensive applications in the area of clinical diagnosis. For many of these applications, quantitative data are sought to relate the quantity of amplified product to the amount of original target nucleic acid present in the sample. Since the PCR methodology with its exponential nature can be adapted for this purpose, a lot of different strategies have emerged in the last few years for sensitive and specific PCR product detection and quantification. Basic strategies, including the use of external and internal standards, are presented with respect to statistical aspects, and the advantages as well as the limitations of individual protocols are discussed. Furthermore the suitability of conventional laboratory techniques, such as gel systems or HPLC, nonradioactive labeling procedures, and the principles of advanced solid-phase-mediated strategies for the precise determination of amplification products, are outlined with the help of selected examples.     

Immuno-PCR: high sensitivity detection of proteins by nucleic acid amplification

Nucleic acid amplification techniques are used for signal generation in antibody-based immunoassays, thereby dramatically enhancing the sensitivity of conventional immunoassays. Methodological aspects, as well as applications of this novel approach, are summarized in this review, with an emphasis on immuno-polymerase chain reaction (IPCR). IPCR is based on chimeric conjugates of specific antibodies and nucleic acid molecules, the latter of which are used as markers to be amplified by PCR for signal generation. The enormous efficiency of nucleic acid amplification typically leads to a 100-10,000-fold increase in sensitivity, as compared with the analogous enzyme-amplified immunoassay. The evolution of IPCR included the development of efficient reagents, the design of assay formats and the maintenance of functionality, even within complex biological matrices. Eventually, IPCR crossed the border from being a research method to a routine laboratory technique, enabling a broad range of applications in immunological research and clinical diagnostics.     

PCR防污染技术的研究进展

聚合酶链式反应（PCR）是一种高灵敏核酸扩增技术,广泛应用于核酸检测中。但在实际应用过程中,扩增产物及其他核酸片段的污染会导致假阳性的结果,制约了PCR在临床检测中的应用。为了解决这一问题,建立了许多PCR防污染的方法,除了早期建立的并已得到广泛应用的物理隔绝法、光照法及水解法外,近年来还发展了酶消化法、化学修饰法及DEAE纤维素法。本文对PCR防污染技术的原理、应用及进展进行了综述。     

Shedding light on health and disease using molecular beacons.

The detection and identification of pathogens is often painstaking due to the low abundance of diseased cells in clinical samples. The genomic sequences of the pathogen can be amplified through methods such as the polymerase chain reaction and nucleic acid sequence-based amplification, but the nucleic acid targets are often lost among other unintended products of amplification. Novel nucleic acid probes known as molecular beacons have been developed allowing for the rapid and specific detection of genetic markers of a disease. Molecular beacons are hairpin-forming oligonucleotides labelled at one end with a quencher and at the other end with a fluorescent reporter dye. In the absence of target, the fluorescence is quenched. In the presence of target, the hairpin structure opens upon beacon/target hybridisation, resulting in the restoration of fluorescence. The ability to transduce target recognition into a fluorescence signal with high signal-to-background ratio, coupled with an improved specificity, has allowed molecular beacons to enjoy a wide range of biological and biomedical applications. Here, we describe the basic features of molecular beacons, review their applications in disease detection and diagnosis and discuss some of the issues and challenges of in vivo studies. The aim of this paper is to foster the development of new molecular beacon-based assays and to stimulate the application of this technology in laboratory and clinical studies of health and disease.     

Quantitative real-time PCR approaches for microbial community studies in wastewater treatment systems: Applications and considerations

Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) has been widely used in recent environmental microbial ecology studies as a tool for detecting and quantifying microorganisms of interest, which aids in better understandings of the complexity of wastewater microbial communities. Although qPCR can be used to provide more specific and accurate quantification than other molecular techniques, it does have limitations that must be considered when applying it in practice. This article reviews the principle of qPCR quantification and its applications to microbial ecology studies in various wastewater treatment environments. Here we also address several limitations of qPCR-based approaches that can affect the validity of quantification data: template nucleic acid quality, nucleic acid extraction efficiency, specificity of group-specific primers and probes, amplification of nonviable DNA, gene copy number variation, and limited number of sequences in the database. Even with such limitations, qPCR is reportedly among the best methods for quantitatively investigating environmental microbial communities. The application of qPCR is and will continue to be increasingly common in studies of wastewater treatment systems. To obtain reliable analyses, however, the limitations that have often been overlooked must be carefully considered when interpreting the results.     

PCR 防污染技术的研究进展

聚合酶链式反应(PCR)是一种高灵敏核酸扩增技术,广泛应用于核酸检测中.但在实际应用过程中,扩增产物及其他核酸片段的污染会导致假阳性的结果,制约了PCR在临床检测中的应用.为了解决这一问题,建立了许多PCR防污染的方法,除了早期建立的并已得到广泛应用的物理隔绝法、光照法及水解法外,近年来还发展了酶消化法、化学修饰法及DEAE纤维素法.本文对PCR防污染技术的原理、应用及进展进行了综述.     

Amplification methods to increase the sensitivity of in situ hybridization: play card(s).

In situ hybridization (ISH) has proved to be an invaluable molecular tool in research and diagnosis to visualize nucleic acids in their cellular environment. However, its applicability can be limited by its restricted detection sensitivity. During the past 10 years, several strategies have been developed to improve the threshold levels of nucleic acid detection in situ by amplification of either target nucleic acid sequences before ISH (e.g., in situ PCR) or the detection signals after the hybridization procedures. Here we outline the principles of tyramide signal amplification using the catalyzed reporter deposition (CARD) technique, present practical suggestions to efficiently enhance the sensitivity of ISH with CARD, and discuss some applications and possible future directions of in situ nucleic acid detection using such an amplification strategy.     

Homogeneous detection of unamplified genomic DNA sequences based on colorimetric scatter of gold nanoparticle probes

Nucleic acid diagnostics is dominated by fluorescence-based assays that use complex and expensive enzyme-based target or signal-amplification procedures. Many clinical diagnostic applications will require simpler, inexpensive assays that can be done in a screening mode. We have developed a 'spot-and-read' colorimetric detection method for identifying nucleic acid sequences based on the distance-dependent optical properties of gold nanoparticles. In this assay, nucleic acid targets are recognized by DNA-modified gold probes, which undergo a color change that is visually detectable when the solutions are spotted onto an illuminated glass waveguide. This scatter-based method enables detection of zeptomole quantities of nucleic acid targets without target or signal amplification when coupled to an improved hybridization method that facilitates probe-target binding in a homogeneous format. In comparison to a previously reported absorbance-based method, this method increases detection sensitivity by over four orders of magnitude. We have applied this method to the rapid detection of mecA in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus genomic DNA samples.     

链替代扩增反应研究进展

链替代扩增反应作为一种体外恒温酶控扩增体系,主要基于限制酶打开缺口和无外切酶活性的DNA聚合酶的聚合替代的原理,随着该反应体系各环节的不断改进,目前该方法已应用于细菌尤其是分枝杆菌DNA的检测、体外进化模型的建立、核酸定量及芯片杂交等多个方面。     

Application of nucleic acid amplification in clinical microbiology

The use of nucleic acid amplification methods in routine clinical microbiology laboratories is becoming increasingly widespread. The theory of polymerase chain reaction is described, including discussion of suitable microbal targets, extraction of nucleic acid from clinical samples, choice of primers, optimization of the process, laboratory design, contamination, and other problems as well as quality control. Other nucleic acid amplification methods such as ligase chain reaction, self-sustained sequence replication, strand displacement amplification, and branched DNA signal amplification are described and the choice of technology is discussed.     

Alternative Molecular Tests for Virological Diagnosis

Several nucleic acid amplification techniques (NAATs), particularly PCR and real-time PCR, are currently used in the routine clinical laboratories. Such approaches have allowed rapid diagnosis with a high degree of sensitivity and specificity. However, conventional PCR methods have several intrinsic disadvantages such as the requirement for temperature cycling apparatus, and sophisticated and costly analytical equipments. Therefore, amplification at a constant temperature is an attractive alternative method to avoid these requirements. A new generation of isothermal amplification techniques are gaining a wide popularity as diagnostic tools due to their simple operation, rapid reaction and easy detection. The main isothermal methods reviewed here include loop-mediated isothermal amplification, nucleic acid sequence-based amplification, and helicase-dependent amplification. In this review, design criteria, potential of amplification, and application of these alternative molecular tests will be discussed and compared to conventional NAATs.     

Interactive Fluorophore and Quencher Pairs for Labeling Fluorescent Nucleic Acid Hybridization Probes

The use of fluorescent nucleic acid hybridization probes that generate a fluorescence signal only when they bind to their target enables real-time monitoring of nucleic acid amplification assays. Real-time nucleic acid amplification assays markedly improves the ability to obtain qualitative and quantitative results. Furthermore, these assays can be carried out in sealed tubes, eliminating carryover contamination. Fluorescent nucleic acid hybridization probes are available in a wide range of different fluorophore and quencher pairs. Multiple hybridization probes, each designed for the detection of a different nucleic acid sequence and each labeled with a differently colored fluorophore, can be added to the same nucleic acid amplification reaction, enabling the development of high-throughput multiplex assays. In order to develop robust, highly sensitive and specific real-time nucleic acid amplification assays it is important to carefully select the fluorophore and quencher labels of hybridization probes. Selection criteria are based on the type of hybridization probe used in the assay, the number of targets to be detected, and the type of apparatus available to perform the assay. This article provides an overview of different aspects of choosing appropriate labels for the different types of fluorescent hybridization probes used with different types of spectrofluorometric thermal cyclers currently available.     

重组酶聚合酶扩增技术：一种新的核酸扩增策略

重组酶聚合酶扩增 (recombinase polymerase amplification, RPA)是近年来兴起的一种等温核酸扩增技术,它比聚合酶链式反应(polymerase chain reaction, PCR)及其它等温扩增技术更快速、便捷、高效。本文将详细介绍RPA这项新颖的技术,并对其在医疗诊断、农业、食品、生物安全等方面的研究及应用进展进行综述。期望这项技术得到更多的关注,使其发展更加完善,将来在更多的领域充分发挥作用,甚至书写核酸检测历史新篇章。     

食源性病毒核酸恒温检测技术研究进展

食源性病毒已成为全球引发食品安全事件的重要病原,对新型检测技术的不断发展提出了严峻的挑战.早期PCR技术在病原检测领域中的应用,推动了对食源性病毒的全面认识.近年来核酸恒温检测技术发展迅速,包括环介导等温扩增技术、重组酶聚合酶扩增技术、核酸序列依赖性扩增技术、链置换扩增技术、滚环扩增技术等,在抗复杂基质干扰、装备要求低...     

基于微流控芯片的核酸等温扩增技术研究进展

核酸等温扩增技术是一种在恒温体系内对核酸进行高效扩增的分子扩增技术,它能够在短时间内实现目的基因的指数增长.微流控芯片(microfluidic chip)技术是把研究样品制备、核酸富集、纯化和检测等多个操作步骤集成到一块“微型化”的芯片上,经自动化处理,得出实验结果,即“样品进,结果出”.将核酸等温扩增技术与微流控芯...     

Novel bioluminescent quantitative detection of nucleic acid amplification in real-time

Background

The real-time monitoring of polynucleotide amplification is at the core of most molecular assays. This conventionally relies on fluorescent detection of the amplicon produced, requiring complex and costly hardware, often restricting it to specialised laboratories.

Principal Findings

Here we report the first real-time, closed-tube luminescent reporter system for nucleic acid amplification technologies (NAATs) enabling the progress of amplification to be continuously monitored using simple light measuring equipment. The Bioluminescent Assay in Real-Time (BART) continuously reports through bioluminescent output the exponential increase of inorganic pyrophosphate (PP_i) produced during the isothermal amplification of a specific nucleic acid target. BART relies on the coupled conversion of inorganic pyrophosphate (PP_i) produced stoichiometrically during nucleic acid synthesis to ATP by the enzyme ATP sulfurylase, and can therefore be coupled to a wide range of isothermal NAATs. During nucleic acid amplification, enzymatic conversion of PP_i released during DNA synthesis into ATP is continuously monitored through the bioluminescence generated by thermostable firefly luciferase. The assay shows a unique kinetic signature for nucleic acid amplifications with a readily identifiable light output peak, whose timing is proportional to the concentration of original target nucleic acid. This allows qualitative and quantitative analysis of specific targets, and readily differentiates between negative and positive samples. Since quantitation in BART is based on determination of time-to-peak rather than absolute intensity of light emission, complex or highly sensitive light detectors are not required.

Conclusions

The combined chemistries of the BART reporter and amplification require only a constant temperature maintained by a heating block and are shown to be robust in the analysis of clinical samples. Since monitoring the BART reaction requires only a simple light detector, the iNAAT-BART combination is ideal for molecular diagnostic assays in both laboratory and low resource settings.     

Amplification of Nucleic Acids by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and Other Methods and their Applications

Abstract

The in vitro replication of DNA, principally using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), permits the amplification of defined sequences of DNA. By exponentially amplifying a target sequence, PCR significantly enhances the probability of detecting target gene sequences in complex mixtures of DNA. It also facilitates the cloning and sequencing of genes. Amplification of DNA by PCR and other newly developed methods has been applied in many areas of biological research, including molecular biology, biotechnology, and medicine, permitting studies that were not possible before. Nucleic acid amplification has added a new and revolutionary dimension to molecular biology. This review examines PCR and other in vitro nucleic acid amplification methodologies—examining the critical parameters and variations and their widespread applications—giving the strengths and limitations of these methodologies.