Abstract
Among all of the high-throughput detection methods, PCR-based methodologies are regarded as the most cost-efficient and feasible methodologies compared with the next-generation sequencing or ChIP-based methods. However, the PCR-based methods can only achieve multiplex detection up to 15-plex due to limitations imposed by the multiplex primer interactions. The detection throughput cannot meet the demands of high-throughput detection, such as SNP or gene expression analysis. Therefore, in our study, we have developed a new high-throughput PCR-based detection method, multiplex enrichment quantitative PCR (ME-qPCR), which is a combination of qPCR and nested PCR. The GMO content detection results in our study showed that ME-qPCR could achieve high-throughput detection up to 26-plex. Compared to the original qPCR, the Ct values of ME-qPCR were lower for the same group, which showed that ME-qPCR sensitivity is higher than the original qPCR. The absolute limit of detection for ME-qPCR could achieve levels as low as a single copy of the plant genome. Moreover, the specificity results showed that no cross-amplification occurred for irrelevant GMO events. After evaluation of all of the parameters, a practical evaluation was performed with different foods. The more stable amplification results, compared to qPCR, showed that ME-qPCR was suitable for GMO detection in foods. In conclusion, ME-qPCR achieved sensitive, high-throughput GMO detection in complex substrates, such as crops or food samples. In the future, ME-qPCR-based GMO content identification may positively impact SNP analysis or multiplex gene expression of food or agricultural samples.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Grand Project of Science and Technology (2016ZX08012-001), the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province (2014A040401029), and the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangzhou (2014J4100105).
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Fu, W., Zhu, P., Wei, S. et al. Multiplex enrichment quantitative PCR (ME-qPCR): a high-throughput, highly sensitive detection method for GMO identification. Anal Bioanal Chem 409, 2655–2664 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-017-0209-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-017-0209-x