Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33609730›Full record

ArticleMolecular and cellular probes2021

Thermodynamic evaluation of the impact of DNA mismatches in PCR-type SARS-CoV-2 primers and probes.

Pâmella Miranda, Gerald Weber

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Molecular and cellular probes, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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  3. OLTA: Optimizing bait seLection for TArgeted sequencing.Bioinformatics (Oxford, England) · 2025
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  4. Reality check: testing theFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025
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  7. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Pâmella MirandaDepartamento de Física, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte-MG, Brazil; Programa Interunidades de Pós-Graduação em Bioinformática, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
Gerald WeberDepartamento de Física, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte-MG, Brazil. Electronic address: gweber@ufmg.br.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDNA mismatches can affect the efficiency of PCR techniques if the intended target has mismatches in primer or probe regions. The accepted rule is that mismatches are detrimental as they reduce the hybridization temperatures, yet a more quantitative assessment is rarely performed.

methodsWe calculate the hybridization temperatures of primer/probe sets after aligning to SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1 and non-SARS genomes, considering all possible combinations of single, double and triple consecutive mismatches. We consider the mismatched hybridization temperature within a range of 5

resultsWe obtained the alignments of 19 PCR primers sets that were recently reported for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 and to 21665 SARS-CoV-2 genomes as well as 323 genomes of other viruses of the coronavirus family of which 10 are SARS-CoV-1. We find that many incompletely aligned primers become fully aligned to most of the SARS-CoV-2 when mismatches are considered. However, we also found that many cross-align to SARS-CoV-1 and non-SARS genomes.

conclusionsSome primer/probe sets only align substantially to most SARS-CoV-2 genomes if mismatches are taken into account. Unfortunately, by the same mechanism, almost 75% of these sets also align to some SARS-CoV-1 and non-SARS viruses. It is therefore recommended to consider mismatch hybridization for the design of primers whenever possible, especially to avoid undesired cross-reactivity.

Indexed as

Base Pair MismatchNucleic Acid HybridizationDNA PrimersDNA ProbesDNA, ViralGenome, ViralPolymerase Chain ReactionSARS-CoV-2Sequence AlignmentTemperatureDNA PrimersDNA ProbesDNA, ViralDNA mismatchesDNA stabilityMesoscopic modelsPCR primer designSARS-CoV-2

Identifiers

PMID33609730
PMCPMC7888997

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.