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Question

During the process of gene amplification using PCR, if very high temperature is not maintained in the beginning, then which of the following steps of PCR will be affected first?

A
Ligation
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B
Annealing
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C
Extension
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D
Denaturation
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Solution

The correct option is D Denaturation
PCR or Polymerase Chain Reaction is a technique used in molecular biology for gene amplification. This technique was developed by Kary Mullis. PCR has made it possible to generate millions of copies of a small segment of DNA.

The following are the three major steps in PCR reaction:
  • Denaturation: Denaturation breaks the hydrogen bonds between the two strands of DNA and separates the DNA strands. This occurs when the reaction mixture (containing DNA template, primers, Taq polymerase, deoxynucleotides, buffer) is heated to about 94℃.
  • Annealing: The primers bind to their complementary sequences on the template DNA. Primers are the short stretches of single-stranded DNA complementary to the 3’ ends of sense and antisense strands. They serve as the starting point for the synthesis of DNA. The reaction temperature is lowered to about 55-65℃.
  • Extension: The nitrogenous bases are added to the 3’ end of the primer by the heat tolerant Taq polymerase enzyme. This elongates the DNA in the 5’ to 3’ direction. The temperature is raised to about 72℃.

Therefore, if a very high temperature is not maintained in the beginning of PCR, then it will affect denaturation.

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