Tag Archives: SMART RACE

5’/3′ RACE – C.gigas COX2/PGS2 Nested RACE PCR

Performed nested RACE PCR on the RACE PCR products generated on 20110722 using the following nested primers: PGS2_ngspRACE_5′ (SR ID: 1350) and PGS2_ngspRACE_3′ (SR ID: 1349). Removed 2uL from each of the primary PCR reactions and brought up to 100uL in tricine EDTA (supplied in the Clontech SMARTer RACE cDNA Amplification Kit). Performed the nested RACE PCR according to the Clontech manual. Briefly, this is the same as the primary RACE PCR reaction, but using 5uL of the diluted primary PCR product and 1uL of the Nested Universal Primer (instead of 5uL of the 10X Universal Primer Mix). Master mix calcs and set up are here. Cycling params followed “Program 2″ of the Clontech protocol, modified for nested primers, and are as follows:

20 cycles:

94C 30s

68C 30s

72C 3m

Results:

Gel Layout:

Lane 1 – Hyperladder 1

Lanes 2-6 = 5′ RACE Library

Lane 2 – nGSP1 (5′ RACE primer)

Lane 3 – nGSP2 (3′ RACE primer)

Lane 4 – Neg. Control (no RACE primers)

Lane 5 – Neg. Control (nGSP1, no Universal primer)

Lane 6 – Neg. Control (nGSP2, no Universal primer)

Lane 7 – Empty

Lanes 8-12 = 3′ RACE Library

Lane 8 – nGSP1 (5′ RACE primer)

Lane 9 – nGSP2 (3′ RACE primer)

Lane 10 – Neg. Control (no RACE primers)

Lane 11 – Neg. Control (nGSP1, no Universal primer)

Lane 12 – Neg. Control (nGSP2, no Universal primer)

First of all, we see the appropriate response of each primer only producing amplicons in their respective libraries (i.e. 5′ primer only works in 5′ RACE library). This simply confirms that the primers were designed correctly. Secondly, our negative controls are clean. Thirdly, we get distinct bands from both primers. The bands marked with blue arrows in the image above were excised and purified using Ultrafree DA spin columns (Millipore). These products will be used for cloning and eventual sequencing.

5’/3′ RACE – C.gigas COX2/PGS2 RACE PCR

Additional RACE using gene specific primers (SR IDs: 1347 & 1348) for C.gigas COX2/PGS2 according to Clontech’s SMARTer cDNA RACE Kit protocol. 3’/5′ RACE cDNA libraries are from 20080619. Master mix calcs and set up is here. Cycling params followed “Program 2″ of the Clontech protocol and are as follows:

25 cycles:

  • 94°C 30 sec
  • 68°C 30 sec
  • 72°C 3 min

Reactions were run with both primers on both libraries, just to ensure that in case there was any confusion in primer design. When finished, I will remove 2uL of the PCR reaction for use in a nested PCR reaction. Will run a gel with both sets of products, once the nested PCR is completed.

Results:

Gel Layout:

Lane 1 – Hyperladder 1

Lanes 2-6 = 5′ RACE Library

Lane 2 – GSP1 (5′ RACE primer)

Lane 3 – GSP2 (3′ RACE primer)

Lane 4 – Neg. Control (no RACE primers)

Lane 5 – Neg. Control (GSP1, no Universal primer)

Lane 6 – Neg. Control (GSP2, no Universal primer)

Lane 7 – Empty

Lanes 8-12 = 3′ RACE Library

Lane 8 – GSP1 (5′ RACE primer)

Lane 9 – GSP2 (3′ RACE primer)

Lane 10 – Neg. Control (no RACE primers)

Lane 11 – Neg. Control (GSP1, no Universal primer)

Lane 12 – Neg. Control (GSP2, no Universal primer)

As has generally been the case, our primary RACE PCRs failed to produce any products. This is why I performed the nested PCR (described above) before viewing the results of this primary PCR.

5’/3′ RACE PCRs – Nested PCRs for COX2 Sequence

Due to the failure of the primary PCR on both 5′ and 3′ RACE cDNA libraries (from 20080619) yesterday, will perform nested PCR using a nested GSP designed by Steven (CgPGSRACEsrNGSP1; SR ID:1209). The 5uL of PCR reactions that were set aside yesterday were diluted to 250uL with tricine-EDTA (supplied with the Clontech SMARTer RACE cDNA Amplification Kit) as instructed in the Clontech manual. The master mix and tube layouts were exactly the same as yesterday’s, but instead of using 2.5uL of RACE cDNA library as template, I used 5uL of the diluted PCR reaction. Additionally, Universal Nested Primers were used instead of the Universal Primer Mix (both supplied in the kit). Cycling parameters followed “Program 2″ from the Clontech manual for 25 cycles.

Entire PCR rxns were run on a 1.2% gel, as instructed by the Clontech manual.

Results:

So….. What we see here is a melted gel!

But! We also see a successful PCR! The first three lanes (excluding the Hyperladder I) are 5′ RACE rxn, followed by two different negative controls (the negative control in the last lane is the one we’re really concerned with and it’s totally clean). The next three lanes are the 3′ RACE rxn, followed by two different negative controls (the negative control in the last lane is the one we’re really concerned with and it’s totally clean). As hoped/expected, we got a nice, clear product in the 5′ RACE rxn.

The bright band (~1500bp) in the 5′ RACE rxn PCR was excised and purified using Millipore Ultrafree DA columns according to protocol. Will clone and sequence this product.

3’RACE – C.gigas 3’RACE for COX2

Used Cg_COX2_3’RACE_short (SR ID: 1197) & Cg_COX2_3’RACE_long (SR ID: 1196) and the Clonetech SMART RACE cDNA Amplification Kit (unknown acquisition date) to attempt to acquire more 3′ sequence of the C.gigas COX2 isoform. Used Gigas 3’RACE cDNA (from 20080610).

Results:

Gel Loading:

Lane 1: Hyperladder 1

Lane 2: empty

Lane 3: Cg_COX2_3’RACE_long

Lane 4: Cg_COX2_3’RACE_long NTC

Lane 5: empty

Lane 6: Cg_COX2_3’RACE_short

Lane 7: Cg_COX2_3’RACE_short NTC

Lane 8: Hyperladder 1

No products produced. This could be due to a large number of factors. The age of the cDNA (from 20080610) is well beyond what the Clontech manual says for storage term (6 months). Additionally, the Clontech polymerase used was nearly 6 years old. The kit (and its components) are of an unknown age and could factor in to the failure of this procedure. Also, the primers that were designed had less than ideal Tm, per the kit’s recommendations.

May need to sequence some previously purified potential COX2 fragments in order to obtain a more useable region of the gene for RACE.