Patent ID: 7312326

Claim:
A fluorescent reporter compound of the formula: wherein Z is a nucleotide; L is a linker of sufficient length to connect the nucleotide derivative to the cyanine dye, such that the cyanine dye does not significantly interfere with the overall binding and recognition of the nucleotide derivative by a nucleic acid replication enzyme; and Cy is a cyanine dye of the formula: wherein A and B are each independently the atoms necessary to form a cyanine nucleus; R 1 and R 2 are each independently C 1 -C 6 alkyl; R 3 is hydrogen, or C 1 -C 4 alkyl; R 4 and R 5 are each independently selected from the group consisting of H and SO 3 − ; and n is 2, 3, or 4.