Primer Design

Primers can be designed directly against the sequences annotated in CnidoSite, or against a sequence you paste in. Design is performed by primer3 (version 2.6.1) running on this server — your sequence is not sent to any third-party website. For reference, the primers released with this database were designed with an optimal melting temperature of 60°C (58–62 °C), an optimal primer length of 20 bp (18–24 bp), and a GC content between 40% and 60%, with self-complementarity restricted to limit primer-dimer formation; that parameter set is the CnidoSite published protocol preset below.

Template taken from CnidoSite: OS493_011760-T1 (OS493_011760-T1), 423 bp.
Template

Two ways to supply a template: pick a species and a gene / transcript ID, or paste your own sequence. If the gene ID is found it is used; the pasted sequence is used otherwise. A template must be at least 30 bp.

Load example sequence
Primer parameters
Advanced parameters (any field left empty keeps the preset value)

A value that is not a number is ignored. The product size range is applied only when both of its fields are filled in and the maximum is at least the minimum.

Melting temperature
Primer length and GC content
Product and output
Self-complementarity and probe
Download TSV
Design results sorted by primer3 penalty, lowest first

Template 423 bp · parameter preset CnidoSite published protocol (Tm 60 [58-62] °C, 20 [18-24] bp, GC 40-60%) · 5 primer pairs returned.

Pair Left primer (5'→3') Position Len Tm (°C) GC (%) Right primer (5'→3') Position Len Tm (°C) GC (%) Product (bp) Penalty
1 ACTGCAAGAAGACGAGGGTG 185–204 20 59.966 55.000 TTTGGAGCACAGCACTCACA 295–314 20 60.107 50.000 130 0.141
2 AAGTGTATCCGTCTGGCTGC 55–74 20 60.108 55.000 CACCCTCGTCTTCTTGCAGT 185–204 20 59.966 55.000 150 0.142
3 ACTGCAAGAAGACGAGGGTG 185–204 20 59.966 55.000 TGGAGCACAGCACTCACATT 293–312 20 59.891 50.000 128 0.143
4 ACTGCAAGAAGACGAGGGTG 185–204 20 59.966 55.000 TTGGAGCACAGCACTCACAT 294–313 20 59.891 50.000 129 0.143
5 TCGACATTAAACTGCCGCCT 124–143 20 60.037 50.000 TTTGGAGCACAGCACTCACA 295–314 20 60.107 50.000 191 0.144
Primer map pair 1 (lowest penalty) · product 130 bp at template position 185–314 · the two tracks are drawn at different scales

Left primer — binds the template strand as listed (5′→3′)Right primer — its reverse complement binds hereProduct

Template423 bpproduct 130 bp · template 185–314product 130 bpleft primer, template 185–204right primer anneals here, template 295–3141107212318423Amplicon130 bpleft primer ACTGCAAGAAGACGAGGGTG · 5′→3′right primer TTTGGAGCACAGCACTCACA · its reverse complement binds the template strandACTGCAAGAAGACGAGGGTGTTTGGAGCACAGCACTCACAinterior 90 bp185217250282314
Left primer
ACTGCAAGAAGACGAGGGTG
template 185–204 · 20 bp · Tm 59.966 °C · GC 55.000 %
Right primer
TTTGGAGCACAGCACTCACA
template 295–314 · 20 bp · Tm 60.107 °C · GC 50.000 %

Amplicon sequence (5′→3′ on the template strand, 130 bp) — blue is the left primer, red is where the right primer anneals. Copy from here to order or to check a base by eye.

ACTGCAAGAAGACGAGGGTGAGATTCGGCATGTGTGTTGGTGTGTGCAATTCGTACGCTCTCCCAGTTCCCATCAAGGGAGATAGCAACGTGCCAAGATTTCAAACAGAATGTGAGTGCTGTGCTCCAAA

The right primer is listed as its own 5'→3' sequence; what anneals to the template strand shown here is its reverse complement, so the highlighted stretch is complementary to the listed sequence. That is expected.

How to read this table. Position is a 1-based interval on the template, and both primers use the same convention: it is the stretch the primer occupies on the template strand (for the left primer, starting at its 5’ end; for the right primer, the region it anneals to, i.e. where the reverse complement of the listed sequence sits on the template). The two coordinates in a row can therefore be subtracted directly, and the amplicon view above marks both of them so you can check them by eye. Penalty is primer3’s weighted sum of the deviations from your constraints — lower is better, and the pairs are returned in that order. Tm is computed by primer3 from the SantaLucia thermodynamic parameters at the salt and primer concentrations in effect. The primer sequences themselves are 5’→3′ and can be ordered as they stand; the right primer anneals to the template as its reverse complement.

Specificity has not been assessed. This page only designs primers; it does not check whether they also anneal elsewhere in the genome or transcriptome. Once you have candidates, confirm each primer sequence with this site’s BLAST. The Tm and GC settings above are the design targets, and the annealing temperature still has to be optimised at the bench.

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