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_021293-T1 (OS493_021293-T1), 381 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 381 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 TCCAACAGAACTGGCGACTC 21–40 20 59.966 55.000 GACTTGGCTTTGGCGAACTC 178–197 20 59.761 55.000 177 0.272
2 TCCAACAGAACTGGCGACTC 21–40 20 59.966 55.000 TGGCTTTGGCGAACTCATGA 174–193 20 60.251 50.000 173 0.284
3 AGCTCTCATGGGGCTGGATA 57–76 20 60.105 55.000 GACTTGGCTTTGGCGAACTC 178–197 20 59.761 55.000 141 0.343
4 TAGCTCTCATGGGGCTGGAT 56–75 20 60.105 55.000 GACTTGGCTTTGGCGAACTC 178–197 20 59.761 55.000 142 0.343
5 ATAGCTCTCATGGGGCTGGA 55–74 20 60.105 55.000 GACTTGGCTTTGGCGAACTC 178–197 20 59.761 55.000 143 0.343
Primer map pair 1 (lowest penalty) · product 177 bp at template position 21–197 · 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

Template381 bpproduct 177 bp · template 21–197product 177 bpleft primer, template 21–40right primer anneals here, template 178–197196191286381Amplicon177 bpleft primer TCCAACAGAACTGGCGACTC · 5′→3′right primer GACTTGGCTTTGGCGAACTC · its reverse complement binds the template strandTCCAACAGAACTGGCGACTCGACTTGGCTTTGGCGAACTCinterior 137 bp2165109153197
Left primer
TCCAACAGAACTGGCGACTC
template 21–40 · 20 bp · Tm 59.966 °C · GC 55.000 %
Right primer
GACTTGGCTTTGGCGAACTC
template 178–197 · 20 bp · Tm 59.761 °C · GC 55.000 %

Amplicon sequence (5′→3′ on the template strand, 177 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.

TCCAACAGAACTGGCGACTCGGCCTCTTGGCCTTATAGCTCTCATGGGGCTGGATATAAATCAGAAACCTTTACATAAAGCCATCTGGGAGTCTTTTTCTGTCAACAGGCATCCTGATAGAGTTCCACTATCTTTCAAACTTTTGCCAATTGATCATGAGTTCGCCAAAGCCAAGTC

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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