CAPS summary

[Martha K Jensen]

I wanted to thank everyone that responded to my initial questions
about using the CAPS primers described and developed by Ausubel and
Konieczny.  There doesn't seem to be a concensus on how to ensure
that this procedure will work.  Most of the suggestions advised using
several nanograms of DNA, instead of the microgram advised by the Red Book,
per reaction.  I received several different DNA preps from people who 
had success with this procedure, but as they are rather long, I won't post
them here.  If you want copies of the preps, e-mail me.

Basically, it seems that different things work for different people,
and I just need to play with the conditions until it works.  Apparently
different CAPS primer pairs work best in varied Mg concentrations, from 4 to
7 mM Mg, and discolored DNA samples won't work.   Wayne Barnes suggested 
trying a different version of Taq polymerase that he'd isolated.

Again, thank you to everyone who mailed me tips and suggestions, and
I hope that this synopsis will help anyone else out there having trouble
with CAPS.

-Martha

mkjensen at iastate.edu
 



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