METHOD FOR DETECTION OF NUCLEIC ACID TARGET SEQUENCES INVOLVING IN VITRO TRANSCRIPTION FROM AN RNA PROMOTER

摘要

Disclosed is a method of detecting the presence of a nucleic acid target sequence of interest, the method comprising the steps of: (a) adding first and second nucleic acid probes to a sample comprising the sequence of interest, so as to form a complex comprising three strands of nucleic acid, wherein the first probe comprises the full length sequence of a first strand of a double stranded promoter, the target sequence comprises an end part of a second strand of the double stranded promoter which is complementary to a part of the first strand, and the second probe comprises the rest of the second strand of the double stranded promoter which is complementary to a part of the first strand, such that a functional promoter is formed when the first probe is hybridised to both the target sequence and to the second probe; (b) adding a polymerase which recognises the promoter, so as to cause the de novo synthesis of nucleic acid from the promoter present in the complex; and (c) detecting directly or indirectly the de novo synthesised nucleic acid. Also disclosed is the complex formed in performance of the method defined above, and a kit for performing the method defined above.