[Analysis of effectiveness of cDNA synthesis, induced using complementary primers and primers containing a...

We have studied the efficiency of DNA synthesis catalyzed by M-MLV reverse transcriptase or Thermus aquaticus DNA polymerase for primers (4-17 nucleotides long) either completely matched or possessing a single mismatched base pair at all possible positions in the primer. It has been shown that DNA synthesis efficiency depends not only on the position of mismatched base pair but on the length and primary structure of the primer. The enzyme, template, and primer concentrations determine the relative level of mismatched DNA synthesis.