title: The single-nucleotide primer extension (SNuPE) method for the multiplex detection of various DNA sequences: from detection of point mutations to microbial ecology.
abstract: Methods based on SNuPE (single-nucleotide primer extension) have become invaluable tools for the rapid and highly specific detection of point mutations and single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the field of human genetics. In the primer extension reaction, a DNA polymerase is used to label a specific primer hybridized to the target sequence by incorporating a single labelled ddNTP (dideoxynucleotide). This labelling provides not only information about the complementary nucleotide of interest in the opposite strand but also a semiquantitative analysis of the sequence targeted by the primer. Since several subdisciplines of microbiology increasingly require cultivation-independent molecular screening tools for elucidating differences between either strains or community structures based on sequence variations of marker genes, SNuPE offers a promising alternative to the existing tool box. The present review describes the method in detail and reports the state-of-the-art applications of this technique both in the field of nucleic acid detections in human genetics and in microbiology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Biotechnology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, UFZ, Leipzig, Germany. marcell.nikolausz@ufz.de
authors.forename: Marcell
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nikolausz
authors.forename: Antonis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chatzinotas
authors.forename: András
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Táncsics
authors.forename: Gwenaël
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Imfeld
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kästner
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics*; D017931:DNA Primers; D006801:Humans; D008829:Microbiology; D017354:Point Mutation; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004247:DNA