A STUDY OF OLIGONUCLEOTIDE REASSOCIATION USING LARGE ARRAYS OF OLIGONUCLEOTIDES SYNTHESIZED ON A GLASS SUPPORT

An extensive analysis of oligonucleotide interactions was carried out by hybridising a synthetic pool of 256 10mers, A(CT)8A, representing a ll oligopyrimidine octamer sequences to an array of four copies of all 256 different octapurine sequences. The resulting 256 duplexes were q uantified by phosphorimaging and analysed to determine the dependence of duplex formation on base composition, sequence, and salt concentrat ion. The results show that the base composition dependence of duplex f ormation can be reduced by high concentrations of tetramethylammonium chloride. This chaotropic solvent also increases duplex yield by up to fiftyfold.