SIMULTANEOUS SYNTHESIS OF PARTIALLY HOMOLOGOUS OLIGONUCLEOTIDE SEQUENCES

A technique is described that allows the concurrent synthesis of homol ogous regions of separate oligonucleotides. The technique utilizes syn thesis columns that are readily interconverted between single-chambere d and dual-chambered The regions of the oligonucleotides that differ a re synthesized separately with single-chamber columns, and with the si ngle modules joined, the homologous regions synthesized simultaneously . After synthesis, the chambers are opened separately the solid-phase- bound oligonucleotides are placed in deprotection vials and treated as normal. Compared with standard syntheses, no decrease in yield or oli gonucleotide quality was observed. This technique can result in signif icant savings in rime and reagent costs when synthesizing a series of homologous oligonucleotides. This technique could be extended to the s imultaneous synthesis of more than two oligonucleotides, possibly up t o four or five oligonucleotides in an appropriate multi-chambered colu mn.