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: aech_s0108.g36.t1 (aech_s0108.g36.t1), 4,737 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 4,737 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 GTGATATGGCTGGCGGATCA 2376–2395 20 59.965 55.000 GTGATATGGCTTGGCTTGCG 2609–2628 20 59.970 55.000 253 0.065
2 GTGATATGGCTGGCGGATCA 2376–2395 20 59.965 55.000 CGTGATATGGCTTGGCTTGC 2610–2629 20 59.970 55.000 254 0.065
3 GTGATATGGCTGGCGGATCA 2376–2395 20 59.965 55.000 GGCTTGGATGAGGAAGCTGT 2561–2580 20 60.035 55.000 205 0.070
4 GTGATATGGCTGGCGGATCA 2376–2395 20 59.965 55.000 GCAGAGGAGTTGGCTTGGAT 2572–2591 20 60.035 55.000 216 0.070
5 GTGATATGGCTGGCGGATCA 2376–2395 20 59.965 55.000 TGGCTTGGATGAGGAAGCTG 2562–2581 20 60.035 55.000 206 0.070
Primer map pair 1 (lowest penalty) · product 253 bp at template position 2,376–2,628 · the template track shows a 1,500 bp window of the 4,737 bp template — the blue segment on the top bar is where that window sits, and every scale is in template coordinates · the two tracks are drawn at different scales

Left primer — binds the template strand as listed (5′→3′)Right primer — its reverse complement binds hereProductWindow drawn in the template track

whole templatethe 1,500 bp drawn in the track below · template 1,752–3,251 of 4,737Template1,500 bp windowproduct 253 bp · template 2,376–2,628product 253 bpleft primer, template 2,376–2,395right primer anneals here, template 2,609–2,6281,7522,1272,5022,8763,251Amplicon253 bpleft primer GTGATATGGCTGGCGGATCA · 5′→3′right primer GTGATATGGCTTGGCTTGCG · its reverse complement binds the template strandinterior 213 bp2,3762,4392,5022,5652,628
Left primer
GTGATATGGCTGGCGGATCA
template 2,376–2,395 · 20 bp · Tm 59.965 °C · GC 55.000 %
Right primer
GTGATATGGCTTGGCTTGCG
template 2,609–2,628 · 20 bp · Tm 59.970 °C · GC 55.000 %

Amplicon sequence (5′→3′ on the template strand, 253 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.

GTGATATGGCTGGCGGATCAAATAATGCAGACACGCCCACCCAAAAACCAACAAAGAAGAAAGGTACAGAGACAAATGTCCTCAAGAGCACCAAGAGAAGCACACCTACTCCAGTTACTGCAGGACATCGTGGTAGTGGTATAAAAACAAACTTCCAAAACAAACCTGCAGACAACAGAAAGTCCACAGCTTCCTCATCCAAGCCAACTCCTCTGCCACAGGCGACAGCCTCTCGCAAGCCAAGCCATATCAC

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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