Patent ID: 7615625

Claim:
A kit for exponentially amplifying, in vitro, a target polynucleotide region of a nucleic acid molecule, wherein the kit comprises one or more containers comprising: (A) a single-stranded first polynucleotide, wherein the polynucleotide (i) contains a polynucleotide region that is complementary in sequence to the target polynucleotide region of a nucleic acid molecule, and (ii) is a circular polynucleotide or is circularizable when hybridized to a polynucleotide comprising the target polynucleotide region; (B) a second polynucleotide, wherein the second polynucleotide is a primer having a 3 ′ terminus hybridized to the single-stranded first polynucleotide and comprises the target polynucleotide region; and (C) a third polynucleotide, wherein the third polynucleotide is a primer and comprises a polynucleotide region that is complementary in sequence to a region of the second polynucleotide, wherein, in the presence of a polymerase, the 3 ′ termini of the second and third polynucleotides are extended in a template-dependent manner to exponentially amplify the target polynucleotide region.