<b>Layman Summary: </b>Rolling circle amplification (RCA) is a popular and extensively used bioanalytical tool. Like any nucleic acid amplifications, non-specific amplification may occur in it and risk generating false positive readouts. The work described in the manuscript investigates non-specific amplification in RCA as a function of ligation and exonuclease digestion assays during the synthesis of circular DNA. In particular, it investigates and compares the role of three different ligation techniques, namely splint-padlock ligation, cohesive end (sticky end ligation), and self-annealing ligation. In addition, it also probes the role of single exonuclease vs dual exonuclease digestions. We employed real time fluorescence to quantify the effect of these factors. Finally, our work hypothesizes the possible origins of non-specific amplification in RCA.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.