OLIGONUCLEOTIDE PRIMERS Meaning and
Definition
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Oligonucleotide primers refer to short sequences of nucleotides that are designed to initiate the synthesis of complementary strands of DNA during a technique known as polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Primers are essential components in PCR as they provide a starting point for DNA replication by serving as templates for DNA polymerase to attach and initiate replication.
Typically consisting of 18-30 nucleotides, oligonucleotide primers are synthesized in the laboratory using chemical methods. They are designed to specifically bind to the DNA strand that needs to be amplified, typically flanking the target sequence at both ends. The specificity of the primers ensures that only the desired DNA region is amplified.
During PCR, the oligonucleotide primers are mixed with the DNA sample of interest, and through a series of temperature cycles, the primers anneal or hybridize to the target DNA. This allows DNA polymerase to bind to the primer-template complex and synthesize a new DNA strand complementary to the original template. This process is repeated multiple times, resulting in an exponential amplification of the target DNA region.
Oligonucleotide primers are critical for the success of PCR experiments as they dictate the specificity and efficiency of DNA amplification. Proper primer design, such as optimizing the primer length, GC content, and avoiding self-complementary sequences, ensures accurate and specific amplification. Additionally, modifying primers with specific tags or fluorescent dyes enables various downstream applications like genotyping, DNA sequencing, and mutation analysis.
Common Misspellings for OLIGONUCLEOTIDE PRIMERS
- iligonucleotide primers
- kligonucleotide primers
- lligonucleotide primers
- pligonucleotide primers
- 0ligonucleotide primers
- 9ligonucleotide primers
- okigonucleotide primers
- opigonucleotide primers
- ooigonucleotide primers
- olugonucleotide primers
- oljgonucleotide primers
- olkgonucleotide primers
- ologonucleotide primers
- ol9gonucleotide primers
- ol8gonucleotide primers
- olifonucleotide primers
- olivonucleotide primers
- olibonucleotide primers
- olihonucleotide primers
- oliyonucleotide primers
Etymology of OLIGONUCLEOTIDE PRIMERS
The word "oligonucleotide" derives from the Greek roots "oligo", meaning "few" or "small", and "nucleotide", which refers to the building blocks of DNA or RNA molecules. An oligonucleotide is a short chain of nucleotides.
The term "primers" in the context of oligonucleotide primers specifically refers to the short DNA sequences used to initiate DNA replication in Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and other molecular biology techniques. The word "primer" comes from the Latin word "primus", meaning "first". In PCR, these primers serve as the starting point for DNA amplification.
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