摘要 |
Provided are compositions that include an at least partially single-stranded nucleic acid, at least one first molecular beacon, and an enzyme comprising a helicase activity, which enzyme is capable of removing the first molecular beacon from the single-stranded nucleic acid wherein the first molecular beacon is hybridized to a first complementary subsequence of the nucleic acid. Also provided are methods of determining the sequence of a template nucleic acid that include removing molecular beacons that are hybridized to the template from the template in a sequential manner using an enzyme that exhibits a helicase activity, detecting a sequence of fluorescent signals that is produced by the removal of a molecular beacons, and converting the sequence of fluorescent signals into nucleotide sequence information. Sequencing systems in which compositions and methods of the invention can be used are also provided.
|