Enhanced PCR Amplification of GC-Rich DNA Templates by Gold Nanoparticles

Abstract

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been reported to facilitate double-stranded DNA dissociation and improve performance of several PCR systems. Here we investigated AuNPs’ effect on GC-rich DNA amplification. We found that AuNPs could enhance PCR amplification of the <i>GNAS1</i> promoter region (∼84% GC) mediated by <i>Pfu</i> or <i>Taq</i> DNA polymerase. However, under optimal concentrations of AuNPs, higher amounts of <i>Taq</i> were required. Furthermore, the GC-rich <i>FMR1</i> (80.4% GC) gene of <i>Homo sapiens</i> as well as <i>exoT</i> (67.3% GC), <i>exsE</i> (71% GC) and <i>pqqF</i> genes (74% GC) of <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> were also efficiently amplified. AuNPs can become an effective additive in GC-rich PCR and facilitate analysis of challenging genomic sequence in basic and clinical research