Most of the techniques described in this chapter (blotting, cloning, PCR, etc.) are dependent on hybridization (annealing) between different populations of nucleic acids. The length of the strands, temperature, and percentage of GC nucleotides weigh considerably on hybridization. Two other components commonly used in hybridization protocols are monovalent ions and formamide. A formula that takes monovalent Na⁺ ions (M[Na⁺]) and formamide concentrations into consideration to compute a Tₘ (temperature of melting) is as follows:
Tₘ=81.5+16.6(log M[Na+])+0.41(%GC)−0.72(%formamide)
Given that formamide competes for hydrogen bond locations on nucleic acid bases and monovalent cations are attracted to the negative charges on nucleic acids, explain why the Tₘ varies as described in part (a).

The RAS gene encodes a signaling protein that hydrolyzes GTP to GDP. When bound by GDP, the RAS protein is inactive, whereas when bound by GTP, RAS protein activates a target protein, resulting in stimulation of cells to actively grow and divide. As shown in the accompanying sequence, a single base-pair mutation results in a mutant protein that is constitutively active, leading to continual promotion of cell proliferation. Such mutations play a role in the formation of cancer. You have cloned the wild-type version of the mouse RAS gene and wish to create a mutant form to study its biological activity in vitro and in transgenic mice. Outline how you would proceed.

A widely used method for calculating the annealing temperature for a primer used in PCR is 5 degrees below the melting temperature, Tₘ(°C), which is computed by the equation 81.5+0.41×(%GC)−(675/N), where %GC is the percentage of GC nucleotides in the oligonucleotide and N is the length of the oligonucleotide. Notice from the formula that both the GC content and the length of the oligonucleotide are variables. Assuming you have the following oligonucleotide as a primer,

5′-TTGAAAATATTTCCCATTGCC-3′

Compute the annealing temperature for PCR. What is the relationship between %GC and? Why? (Note: In reality, this computation provides only a starting point for empirical determination of the most useful annealing temperature.)

You have cloned a gene for an enzyme that degrades lipids in a bacterium that normally lives in cold temperatures. You wish to transfer this gene into E. coli to produce industrial amounts of enzyme for use in laundry detergent.

You have managed to produce transgenic E. coli expressing mRNA of your gene, but only a low level of protein is produced. Why might this be so? How could you overcome this problem?

You have cloned a gene for an enzyme that degrades lipids in a bacterium that normally lives in cold temperatures. You wish to transfer this gene into E. coli to produce industrial amounts of enzyme for use in laundry detergent.

How would you accomplish this?

Most of the techniques (blotting, cloning, PCR, etc.) are dependent on hybridization (annealing) between different populations of nucleic acids. The length of the strands, temperature, and percentage of GC nucleotides weigh considerably on hybridization. Two other components commonly used in hybridization protocols are monovalent ions and formamide. A formula that takes monovalent Na⁺ ions (M[Na⁺]) and formamide concentrations into consideration to compute a Tₘ (temperature of melting) is as follows:

Tₘ=81.5+16.6(log M[Na+])+0.41(%GC)−0.72(%formamide)

For the following concentrations of Na⁺ and formamide, calculate the Tₘ. Assume 45% GC content.

  [Na⁺]  % Formamide

  0.825      20

  0.825      40

  0.165      20

  0.165      40

In humans, congenital heart disease is a common birth defect that affects approximately 1 out of 125 live births. Using reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR), Samir Zaidi and colleagues [(2013) Nature 498:220.223] determined that approximately 10 percent of the cases resulted from point mutations, often involving histone function. To capture products of gene expression in developing hearts, they used oligo(dT) in their reverse transcription protocol.

If one were interested in comparing the quantitative distribution of gene expression in, say, the right and left sides of a developing heart, how might one proceed using RT-PCR?

In humans, congenital heart disease is a common birth defect that affects approximately 1 out of 125 live births. Using reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR), Samir Zaidi and colleagues [(2013) Nature 498:220.223] determined that approximately 10 percent of the cases resulted from point mutations, often involving histone function. To capture products of gene expression in developing hearts, they used oligo(dT) in their reverse transcription protocol.

Compared with oligo(dT) primers, a pool of random sequence primers requires a trickier assessment of annealing temperature. Why?