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: gene28295.t1 (gene28295.t1), 465 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 465 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 GGCAGAACATCACAAGGTTGC 229–249 21 60.336 52.381 CTCTTTCAGTACCCCAGCGG 384–403 20 60.108 60.000 175 1.444
2 GCAGAACATCACAAGGTTGCA 230–250 21 59.662 47.619 CTCTTTCAGTACCCCAGCGG 384–403 20 60.108 60.000 174 1.446
3 TGTCAACATTGCATCGTGCT 59–78 20 58.762 45.000 CACCTCAACGTGGACATCCT 335–354 20 59.678 55.000 296 1.559
4 GGCAGAACATCACAAGGTTGC 229–249 21 60.336 52.381 CCTGGTACCACCTCAACGTG 343–362 20 60.320 60.000 134 1.657
5 GGCAGAACATCACAAGGTTGC 229–249 21 60.336 52.381 CTGCCTGGTACCACCTCAAC 346–365 20 60.322 60.000 137 1.658
Primer map pair 1 (lowest penalty) · product 175 bp at template position 229–403 · 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

Template465 bpproduct 175 bp · template 229–403product 175 bpleft primer, template 229–249right primer anneals here, template 384–4031117233349465Amplicon175 bpleft primer GGCAGAACATCACAAGGTTGC · 5′→3′right primer CTCTTTCAGTACCCCAGCGG · its reverse complement binds the template strandGGCAGAACATCACAAGGTTGCCTCTTTCAGTACCCCAGCGGinterior 134 bp229273316360403
Left primer
GGCAGAACATCACAAGGTTGC
template 229–249 · 21 bp · Tm 60.336 °C · GC 52.381 %
Right primer
CTCTTTCAGTACCCCAGCGG
template 384–403 · 20 bp · Tm 60.108 °C · GC 60.000 %

Amplicon sequence (5′→3′ on the template strand, 175 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.

GGCAGAACATCACAAGGTTGCAGTACTCCAGATAAAAAACATGTAAACAGATTCCATCGACCTCAGTATACATCCCCTACTTACACAAACCCACTTCAGAAGTCAGAGGATGTCCACGTTGAGGTGGTACCAGGCAGTTATGCCATTACTGCTGGCCGCTGGGGTACTGAAAGAG

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.

TOP