A new, multiplex, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction system for nucleic acid detection and quantification

Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) has emerged as a powerful investigative and diagnostic tool with potential to generate accurate and reproducible results. qPCR can be designed to fulfil the four key aspects required for the detection of nucleic acids: simplicity, speed, sensitivity, and specificity. This chapter reports the development of a novel real-time multiplex quantitative PCR technology, dubbed PrimRglo (TM), with a potential for high-degree multiplexing. It combines the capacity to simultaneously detect many viruses, bacteria, or nucleic acids, in a single reaction tube, with the ability to quantitate viral or bacterial load. The system utilizes oligonucleotide-tagged PCR primers, along with complementary fluorophore-labelled and quencher-labelled oligonucleotides. The analytic sensitivity of PrimRglo technology was compared with the widely used Taqman (R) and SYBR green detection systems.