New England Biolabs, Inc.

George R Feehery

Sriharsa Pradhan

James McFarland

Fiona Stewart

Shuang-Yong Xu

Yinhua Zhang

Christopher J Noren

George Tzertzinis

Larry A McReynolds

Pierre O Esteve

Corinna Tuckey

Hang Gyeong Chin

Vishnu Udayakumaran Nair Sunitha Kumary

Julie Beaulieu

Compositions, methods and kits are provided for identifying the presence and location of a target in chromosomal DNA. A nicking endonuclease fused to a binding domain that binds to a constant region of an antibody (NEFP) is provided that may be used for binding to a target directly or via an antibody that binds to the target. The target may be a protein or structural feature of the DNA and its presence and location may correspond to a phenotype and/or pathology in a biopsy or other cell sample for diagnostic purposes. The background is reduced by the addition of a glycoaminoglycan (GAG) that reversibly inhibits binding of the NEFP to DNA. Nick translation in the presence of a strand displacing polymerase enables the incorporation of tagged nucleotides that (i) blocks re-nicking; (ii) facilitates immobilization of DNA fragments around the target for sequencing; and/or (iii) enables dye labelling of the chromosomal DNA within the cell nuclei for analysis by microscopy.

Compositions and methods for detecting molecular targets on chromosomal DNA

Compositions and methods are provided for enriching mitochondrial DNA and optionally chloroplast DNA from eukaryotic cells in a simple rapid method that provides greater than 100 fold enrichment. Affinity protein-coated substrate in a buffer is used to efficiently bind chromosomal DNA and thereby remove it from the buffer. Mitochondrial sequencing reads reveal that non-biased sequence selection providing representation of a substantial proportion of mitochondrial DNA in the eukaryotic cells analyzed.

Methods and compositions for enriching either target polynucleotides or non-target polynucleotides from a mixture of target and non-target polynucleotides

Compositions and methods are provided for enriching non-target polynucleotides from a mixture of non-target and target polynucleotides where differences between the target polynucleotides and the non-target polynucleotides include the extent of modified bases that are present in a greater density in the target polynucleotides than in the non-target polynucleotides. This permits the target polynucleotides to be selectively and rapidly bound to an affinity matrix such as affinity protein-coated magnetic beads providing enrichment of the non-target polynucleotides in the supernatant. One use of this enrichment is to remove human genomic DNA from a mixture of DNAs obtained from human tissue samples to enrich for polynucleotides in a microbiome so as to characterize the microbiome by DNA sequencing.

Compositions and methods are provided for facilitating the enrichment of single-stranded DNA containing methylated CpG in a mixture containing methylated and unmethylated DNA. The compositions relate to methylation-binding protein domains that selectively bind to methylated single strand DNA. In embodiments of the invention, the methylated DNA is eluted in 0.4M-0.6M NaCl while the unmethylated single strand DNA is eluted in less than 0.4M salt. The ability to readily enrich for methylated DNA permits high throughput sequencing of the methylated DNA and identification of abnormal methylation patterns associated with disease.

Method for enriching methylated CpG sequences

A method for obtaining a mixture of heterogenous short double-stranded RNA molecules suitable for use in gene silencing (hsiRNA) by subjecting large double-stranded RNA to enzymatic cleavage under specified conditions. The resulting mixture consistently includes enhanced representation of fragments having a size of 21-22 nucleotides absent any fractionation step. The fragments contain sequences that collectively span the entire length of the large double-stranded RNA from which they are derived. Double-stranded RNA with sequences that individually represent segments of a target mRNA may be analyzed using the methods described herein to identify the most active subset of hsiRNA fragments or individual siRNA fragments for achieving gene silencing for any gene or transcribed sequences. A method is additionally provided for preparing and cloning DNA encoding selected siRNA, hsiRNA mixtures or hairpin sequences to provide a continuous supply of a gene silencing reagent derived from any long double-stranded RNA.

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West Newbury, MA, United States of America

George R Feehery