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: evm.model.Ap12.2294 (evm.model.Ap12.2294), 825 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 825 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 ACGTCGGTAGGGGAGATTGA 343–362 20 60.034 55.000 AATTGCAATACGGGAGGCCA 584–603 20 60.034 50.000 261 0.067
2 CCGTTAGCACAACGCAAACA 628–647 20 59.972 50.000 GTTCCACAGATGATGCACGC 780–799 20 59.902 55.000 172 0.126
3 TGGCCTCCCGTATTGCAATT 584–603 20 60.034 50.000 GTTCCACAGATGATGCACGC 780–799 20 59.902 55.000 216 0.131
4 CAGGTGGTACAAGTAGGCGG 130–149 20 60.108 60.000 TCAATCTCCCCTACCGACGT 343–362 20 60.034 55.000 233 0.142
5 AGATTGAGTCCTGGGCGAAC 356–375 20 59.749 55.000 AATTGCAATACGGGAGGCCA 584–603 20 60.034 50.000 248 0.284
Primer map pair 1 (lowest penalty) · product 261 bp at template position 343–603 · 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

Template825 bpproduct 261 bp · template 343–603product 261 bpleft primer, template 343–362right primer anneals here, template 584–6031207413619825Amplicon261 bpleft primer ACGTCGGTAGGGGAGATTGA · 5′→3′right primer AATTGCAATACGGGAGGCCA · its reverse complement binds the template strandinterior 221 bp343408473538603
Left primer
ACGTCGGTAGGGGAGATTGA
template 343–362 · 20 bp · Tm 60.034 °C · GC 55.000 %
Right primer
AATTGCAATACGGGAGGCCA
template 584–603 · 20 bp · Tm 60.034 °C · GC 50.000 %

Amplicon sequence (5′→3′ on the template strand, 261 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.

ACGTCGGTAGGGGAGATTGAGTCCTGGGCGAACGCGAACAAGCTTTTGTTAAACGAGAAGAAGACGAAGGTCTTGATGATCACTGGCAATCGCCTTGCTCCTAAGACAGGTGTTGAACTGTGCGTTAAGGCGGGAAACGGCGCCACAGCATTAGATAATGTATCAAGTGCAACATTACTTGGACTTGACATAGATAGCAAACTTTCGTTTAACGAACATGTAGAAAAGACATGTAAAAAAGTGGCCTCCCGTATTGCAATT

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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