Patent ID: 6333156
Filing Date: 2001-12-25
Classification: C12Q,G01N,Y10S

Abstract:
A method for determining the base sequence of one or more target nucleic acid(s), said method comprising:providing a plurality of nucleic acid analyte(s) for each target nucleic acid, each of said nucleic acid analyte(s) corresponding to at least a part of its respective target nucleic acid, said nucleic acid analyte(s) having different nucleotide sequences with respect to each other which are overlapping or non-overlapping,preparing at least four samples for each nucleic acid analyte, said samples each comprising various lengths of oligonucleotide fragments which have sequences identical to or complementary with a part of their respective target nucleic acid, said oligonucleotide fragments of each of said samples being base-specifically fragmented at their end bases such that the base sequence of said oligonucleotide fragments can be determined,labeling each nucleic acid analyte with a different label wherein said samples derived from an identical nucleic acid analyte are identically labeled and said samples derived from a different nucleic acid analyte are differently labeled,combining said samples of two or more nucleic acid analytes in correspondence to their fragmented end bases to obtain at least four combined samples each comprising identically fragmented oligonucleotide fragments from different nucleic acid analytes,separating said combined samples to simultaneously distinguish the oligonucleotide fragments for each kind of end bases based on a difference in length of one base,detecting the separated oligonucleotide fragments based on their respective labels and analyzing the length of the oligonucleotide fragments one base at a time to determine the base sequence of said target nucleic acid(s).