Preliminary Studies

Gene Check has been working with MutS in SNP detection for more than 13 years and has been utilizing immobilized MutS based SNP detection in commercial genotyping of codon 171 of the sheep prion protein gene for more than 10 years. We have successfully immobilized E. coli MutS to nitrocellulose, microtiter plates, magnetic beads and polystyrene beads. Immobilized MutS appears to bind more strongly to mismatch containing DNA and to discriminate more effectively between perfectly paired and mismatch containing DNA than MutS in solution (Wagner, et al., 1995).

MutS from other bacterial species have been reported to have different spectra of mismatch recognition or greater binding affinities than E. coli MutS (Biswas and Hsieh, 1996; Parsons and Heflich, 1998;Whitehouse et al., 1997; Stanislawska-
Sachadyn and Sachadyn, 2005).