Oligonucleotides as short as 7-mers can be used for PCR amplification

Amplification of DNA sequences using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) requires as primers two oligonucleotides, which are carefully designed for length and G/C content. Such primers are generally between 18 and 30 bases long so that the primer sequences can amplify a unique sequence in the target genome; they should possess a minimal degree of secondary structure. We have tested the minimum length of G/C-rich and palindromic oligonucleotides to be used as primers in PCR. Oligonucleotides with sequences corresponding to the recognition sites of rare restriction enzymes were used on the DNA of vector constructs as model template DNA. Surprisingly, we found specific amplification with a low background over a wide range of temperatures for oligonucleotides as short as 7 nucleotides. This findings contradicts the previously reported empirical relationship between oligonucleotide length and ability to trigger amplification and points to the complex relationship between thermodynamic and kinetic criteria in relation to PCR. This technique should lead to new application in the cloning and screening of complex genomes.