A simple PCR-based fluorometric system for detection of mutant fusion DNAs using a quencher-free fluorescent DNA probe and graphene oxide.

We propose a facile fluorometric system for detection of gene mutations using graphene oxide (GO). A fluorescent probe DNA anneals to a specific mutant gene and is degraded by the 5'→ 3' exonuclease activity of Taq polymerase during PCR, and the released fluorophore retains fluorescence after addition of GO without quenching.

Evolution of transcription networks in response to temporal fluctuations.

Organisms respond to changes in their environment over a wide range of biological and temporal scales. Such phenotypic plasticity can involve developmental, behavioral, physiological, and genetic shifts. The adaptive value of a plastic response is known to depend on the nature of the information that is available to the organism as well as the direct and indirect costs of the plastic response.

Quantitative detection of single base mutation by combining PNA hybridization and MALDI-TOF mass analysis.

Peptide nucleic acid (PNA) probes were designed to bind to the internal reference sequence and the single base mutation sequence within PCR-amplified DNA templates. PNAs hybridized to the target sequences on DNA were analyzed using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Accurate quantification of the relative amount of mutant DNA was reproducibly demonstrated.

Mutation in the transcriptional regulator PhoP contributes to avirulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra strain.

Attenuated strains of mycobacteria can be exploited to determine genes essential for their pathogenesis and persistence. To this goal, we sequenced the genome of H37Ra, an attenuated variant of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv strain. Comparison with H37Rv revealed three unique coding region polymorphisms.