Quantum dots induce hot-start effects for Taq-based polymerase chain reaction

Fuming Sang, Yang Yang, Hongyuan Wang, Xiaolei Ju, Zhizhou Zhang

Harbin Institute of Technology, School of Marine Science and Technology, Weihai, China.

DOI: 10.4236/jbise.2012.56038                

Abstract

Decent hot-start effects were here reported in Taq DNA polymerase-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) when water-soluble CdTe quantum dots (QDs) were employed. The hot-start effects were revealed by the higher amplicon yields and distinguished suppression of nonspecific amplification after pre-incubation of PCR mix with quantum dots between 30°C and 56°C. DNA targets were well amplified even after PCR mixture was pre-incubated 3 hr at 30°C or 1 hr at 50°C. Importantly, the effects of QDs nanoparticles could be reversed by increasing the polymerase concentration, suggesting that there was an interaction between QDs and Taq DNA polymerase. Moreover, control experiment indicated that hot-start effect is not primarily due to the reduced polymerase concentration resulted from the above interaction. This study provided another good start to investigate potential implications of quantum dots in key molecular biology techniques.

Keywords

Quantum Dots; Hot-Start; Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR); DNA; Taq DNA Polymerase

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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