Patent ID: 7803549

Claim:
A reagent kit, comprising, i. at least one fluorescently-labeled nucleic acid probe; ii. a first primer pair comprising a first and second primer, wherein the first primer pair is sufficient to amplify a first target sequence by polymerase chain reaction; iii. a second primer pair and a third primer pair sufficient to amplify a second and third target sequence, respectively, by polymerase chain reaction; iv. a single-stranded control polynucleotide comprising: (a) a nucleotide sequence of the first primer and a nucleotide sequence (designated a “second primer binding sequence”) that is complementary to the second primer; and (b) located between said nucleotide sequence of the first primer and said second primer binding sequence: (1) the sequences of the primers of the second and third primer pairs or subsequences thereof that are at least 5 nucleotides long, and (2) a probe binding sequence that is complementary to said fluorescently-labeled nucleic acid probe; wherein said nucleic acid probe is sufficiently complementary to said probe binding site to allow for detection of said single-stranded control polynucleotide sequence.