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: alvinactis_v1_g8865 (alvinactis_v1_g8865), 3,261 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 3,261 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 GCGATACTCGACGGCTGTAA 1903–1922 20 59.971 55.000 GTGGAACGCATAAGGGTCCA 2048–2067 20 60.036 55.000 165 0.064
2 AGAACAAAAGCCGCGAGAGA 2720–2739 20 59.966 50.000 CAGTTCCTCACCGTGTTCGA 2948–2967 20 59.968 55.000 248 0.065
3 AAAAGCCGCGAGAGAAAGGA 2725–2744 20 59.965 50.000 CAGTTCCTCACCGTGTTCGA 2948–2967 20 59.968 55.000 243 0.066
4 GTTGGAGTTGGCGGAGTGTA 960–979 20 59.966 55.000 CAGCGAGAATGAACCCAGGT 1184–1203 20 60.036 55.000 244 0.070
5 GTTGGAGTTGGCGGAGTGTA 960–979 20 59.966 55.000 TCATCTTCTCGGGTGGTTGC 1212–1231 20 60.036 55.000 272 0.071
Primer map pair 1 (lowest penalty) · product 165 bp at template position 1,903–2,067 · the template track shows a 1,500 bp window of the 3,261 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 1,235–2,734 of 3,261Template1,500 bp windowproduct 165 bp · template 1,903–2,067product 165 bpleft primer, template 1,903–1,922right primer anneals here, template 2,048–2,0671,2351,6101,9852,3592,734Amplicon165 bpleft primer GCGATACTCGACGGCTGTAA · 5′→3′right primer GTGGAACGCATAAGGGTCCA · its reverse complement binds the template strandGCGATACTCGACGGCTGTAAGTGGAACGCATAAGGGTCCAinterior 125 bp1,9031,9441,9852,0262,067
Left primer
GCGATACTCGACGGCTGTAA
template 1,903–1,922 · 20 bp · Tm 59.971 °C · GC 55.000 %
Right primer
GTGGAACGCATAAGGGTCCA
template 2,048–2,067 · 20 bp · Tm 60.036 °C · GC 55.000 %

Amplicon sequence (5′→3′ on the template strand, 165 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.

GCGATACTCGACGGCTGTAAGAATCGTATTGTATTCGAGGTTAAGCATTCCAGCGAAAATCCCGAGTTTGAAAACCTGCAGACGCCTACCAAGCCAGCTCTACCGATTGTATTTAACAGAACTGGTCTCTGGTGTACAGATGAACTGGACCCTTATGCGTTCCAC

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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