Methods and oligonucleotides for detecting nucleic acid sequence variations

Abstract

The present invention provides methods for detecting and identifying sequence variations in a nucleic acid sequence of interest using a detector primer. It has been found that the reduced efficiency of primer extension by DNA polymerases when the 3′ end of a primer does not hybridize perfectly with the target can be adapted for use as a means for distinguishing or identifying the nucleotide in the target which is at the site where the diagnostic mismatch between the detector primer and the target occurs. The detector primer hybridizes to the sequence of interest and is extended with polymerase. The efficiency of detector primer extension is detected as an indication of the presence and/or identity of the sequence variation in the target. The inventive methods make use of nucleotide mismatches at or near the 3′ end of the detector primer to discriminate between the nucleotide sequence of interest and a second nucleotide sequence which may occur at that same site in the target. The methods are particularly well suited for detecting and identifying single nucleotide differences between a target sequence of interest (e.g., a mutant allele of a gene) and a second nucleic acid sequence (e.g., a wild type allele for the same gene).

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for detecting a single nucleotide polymorphism in a target comprising: 
 a) hybridizing a detector primer and a second primer to the target such that extension of the second primer by polymerase displaces the detector primer from the target sequence, wherein the detector primer comprises a diagnostic nucleotide for the single nucleotide polymorphism which is a 3′ terminal nucleotide of the detector primer or about one to four nucleotides from the 3′ terminal nucleotide;    b) extending the detector primer and the second primer with polymerase to produce a displaced detector primer extension product;    c) determining an efficiency of detector primer extension, and;    d) detecting the presence or absence of the single nucleotide polymorphism based on the efficiency of detector primer extension.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the single nucleotide polymorphism is identified using the detector primer.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the single nucleotide polymorphism is identified using multiple detector primers, each comprising a different diagnostic nucleotide.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  wherein two detector primers are used to identify which of two possible alleles is present in the target sequence.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3  wherein four detector primers are used to identify the nucleotide present in the target sequence at the position of the single nucleotide polymorphism.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3  wherein each of the multiple detector primers has a different 5′ tail sequence.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the detector primer further comprises a nucleotide which forms a nondiagnostic mismatch with the target sequence.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the nondiagnostic nucleotide is positioned within fifteen nucleotides of the diagnostic nucleotide in the detector primer.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the nondiagnostic nucleotide is positioned 1-5 nucleotides from the diagnostic nucleotide in the detector primer.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the nondiagnostic nucleotide is adjacent to the diagnostic nucleotide in the detector primer.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the detector primer is about 15-36 nucleotides long.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the detector primer is about 18-24 nucleotides long.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the second primer is an amplification primer.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the amplification reaction is selected from the group consisting of SDA, 3SR, NASBA, TMA and PCR.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the detector primer is about 12-50 nucleotides long.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the detector primer is about 12-24 nucleotides long.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the detector primer is about 12-19 nucleotides long.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the presence or absence of the single nucleotide polymorphism is detected by means of a label associated with the detector primer.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18  wherein the label becomes detectable upon extension of the detector primer or produces a change in signal upon extension of the detector primer.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19  wherein the label is a fluorescent donor/quencher dye pair and a decrease in donor dye fluorescence is detected as an indication of the presence of the single nucleotide polymorphism.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 19  wherein a change in fluorescence polarization is detected as an indication of the presence of the single nucleotide polymorphism.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 1  wherein a single nucleotide polymorphism in an HFE gene is detected.  
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22  wherein the single nucleotide polymorphism is detected in exon 4 or exon 2 of the HFE gene.  
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the efficiency of detector primer extension is determined quantitatively.  
     
     
         25 . A method for detecting a single nucleotide polymorphism in a target comprising, in an isothermal nucleic acid amplification reaction: 
 a) hybridizing a detector primer to the target, wherein the detector primer comprises a diagnostic nucleotide for the single nucleotide polymorphism about one to four nucleotides from a 3′ terminal nucleotide of the detector primer which is complementary to the target sequence;    b) amplifying the target by hybridization and extension of the detector primer;    c) determining an efficiency of detector primer extension, and;    d) detecting the presence or absence of the single nucleotide polymorphism based on the efficiency of detector primer extension.    
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25  wherein the single nucleotide polymorphism is identified using the detector primer.  
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26  wherein the single nucleotide polymorphism is identified using two or more detector primers, each comprising a different diagnostic nucleotide.  
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27  wherein two detector primers are used to identify which of two possible alleles is present in the target sequence.  
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 27  wherein four detector primers are used to identify the nucleotide present in the target sequence at the position of the single nucleotide polymorphism.  
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 27  wherein each of the multiple detector primers has a different 5′ tail sequence.  
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 25  wherein the detector primer further comprises a nucleotide which forms a nondiagnostic mismatch with the target sequence.  
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 31  wherein the nondiagnostic nucleotide is positioned within fifteen nucleotides of the diagnostic nucleotide in the detector primer.  
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32  wherein the nondiagnostic nucleotide is positioned 1-5 nucleotides from the diagnostic nucleotide in the detector primer.  
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 33  wherein the nondiagnostic nucleotide is adjacent to the diagnostic nucleotide in the detector primer.  
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 31  wherein the detector primer is about 15-36 nucleotides long.  
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 35  wherein the detector primer is about 18-24 nucleotides long.  
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 25  wherein the isothermal amplification reaction is selected from the group consisting of SDA, 3SR, NASBA and TMA.  
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 25  wherein the detector primer is about 12-50 nucleotides long.  
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 38  wherein the detector primer is about 12-24 nucleotides long.  
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 39  wherein the detector primer is about 12-19 nucleotides long.  
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 25  wherein the presence or absence of the single nucleotide polymorphism is detected by means of a label associated with the detector primer.  
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 41  wherein the label becomes detectable upon extension of the detector primer or produces a change in signal upon extension of the detector primer.  
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 42  wherein the label is a fluorescent donor/quencher dye pair and a decrease in donor dye fluorescence is detected as an indication of the presence of the single nucleotide polymorphism.  
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 42  wherein a change in fluorescence polarization is detected as an indication of the presence of the single nucleotide polymorphism.  
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 25  wherein the efficiency of detector primer extension is determined quantitatively.  
     
     
         46 . An oligonucleotide which comprises: 
 a) a nucleotide sequence which hybridizes to an internal segment of a target nucleic acid downstream from a hybridization site for a primer such that extension of the primer displaces the oligonucleotide from the target sequence, and;    b) a 3′ terminal nucleotide or a nucleotide about one to four nucleotides from the 3′ terminal nucleotide which is diagnostic for a single nucleotide polymorphism which may be present in the target nucleic acid.    
     
     
         47 . The oligonucleotide of  claim 46  wherein the diagnostic nucleotide is the 3′ terminal nucleotide (N) or N-1.  
     
     
         48 . The oligonucleotide of  claim 46  further comprising a nondiagnostic nucleotide within about one to fifteen nucleotides from the diagnostic nucleotide.  
     
     
         49 . The oligonucleotide of  claim 48  wherein the nondiagnostic nucleotide is within about one to five nucleotides from the diagnostic nucleotide.  
     
     
         50 . The oligonucleotide of  claim 49  wherein the diagnostic and nondiagnostic nucleotides, respectively, are selected from the group consisting of N and N-3, N-1 and N-2, and N-2 and N-3.  
     
     
         51 . The oligonucleotide of  claim 46  which hybridizes downstream from an amplification primer for the target nucleic acid.  
     
     
         52 . An oligonucleotide which is an amplification primer for an isothermal nucleic acid amplification reaction, the oligonucleotide comprising: 
 a) a 3′ terminal nucleotide which is complementary to the target, and;    b) about one to four nucleotides from the 3′ terminal nucleotide, a diagnostic nucleotide for a single nucleotide polymorphism which may be present in a target to be amplified.    
     
     
         53 . The oligonucleotide of claim  52  wherein the diagnostic nucleotide is at N-1 or N-2.  
     
     
         54 . The method of  claim 25  further comprising, prior to amplifying, displacing the hybridized detector primer from the target by extension of an upstream primer.