Exogenous contaminating DNA in Taq polymerases: A method to avoid false-positive results when detecting the bla gene.

In the course of developing an assay to identify genes responsible for antibiotic resistance in gram-negative bacteria, it has been found that standard (not DNA-free) Taq DNA polymerases were contaminated with bla gene fragments that varied in length and quantities. The complete bla gene sequence was either absent or was detected in infinitesimal amounts. We developed an approach to avoid false-positive findings caused by contaminating bla gene sequences in conventional polymerases.

Microarray with LNA-probes for genotyping of polymorphic variants of Gilbert's syndrome gene UGT1A1(TA)n.

Background: Gilbert's syndrome is a common metabolic dysfunction characterized by elevated levels of unconjugated bilirubin in the bloodstream. This condition is usually caused by additional (TA) insertions in a promoter region of the uridine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase 1A1 (UGT1A1) gene, which instead of the sequence А(TА)6TАА contains А(TА)7TАА. While the condition itself is benign, it presents elevated risk for patients treated with irinotecan, a common chemotherapy drug.