PNA molecular beacons for rapid detection of PCR amplicons

The authors have developed a method for rapid detection of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplicons based on surface immobilized PNA-DNA hybrid probes ('molecular beacons') that undergo a fluorescent-linked conformational change in the presence of a complementary DNA target. Amplicons can be detected by simply adding a PCR reaction to a microtitre-well containing the previously immobilized probe, and reading the generated fluorescence. No further transfers or washing steps are involved. The authors demonstrate the specificity of the method for the detection of ribosomal DNA from Entamoeba histolytica.