Question

The Psilotum nudum genome is 2.5 x 1011 bp. You wish to design a primer to amplify a specific gene in the genome. - Part A In general, what length of oligonucleotide would be sufficient to amplify a single unique sequence? To simplify your calculation, assume that all bases occur with an equal frequency. Hint: The frequency of occurrence of a PCR primer in genomic DNA is given by this equation: genomic DNA length x sequence frequency The sequency frequency is (1/4)", where N corresponds to the number of nucleotides in the site. Express your answer as an integer. Templates Symbols unido ředo' reslet keyboard shortcuts help Submit Request Answer

Answer 1

The size of the genome in the given case is 2.5 * 10¹¹ bp.

The expression for calculation of primer frequency is as follows:

Primer frequency = genome size * sequence frequency

In the given case, primer frequency is 1 and thus,

1 = 2.5 * 10¹¹ * (1/4)^N, where N is the length of the primer

So, (1/4)^N = 1/2.5 * 10¹¹

or (1/4)^N = 0.4 * 10^-11

^{Thus, N = 19 base pairs approximately.}