The invention includes a mutant Taq polymerase, which can effectively amplify a target sequence under conditions of salt concentration(s) similar to body fluids, including blood, serum or plasma preserved with sodium citrate. The mutant Taq polymerase, or a biologically active fragment thereof, has one or more substitutions differing from the wild type as shown in Table I.

The invention provides barcode libraries and methods of making and using them including obtaining a plurality of nucleic acid constructs in which each construct comprises a unique N-mer and a functional N-mer and segregating the constructs into a fluid compartments such that each compartment contains one or more copies of a unique construct. The invention further provides methods for digital PCR and for use of barcode libraries in digital PCR.

The invention provides barcode libraries and methods of making and using them including obtaining a plurality of nucleic acid constructs in which each construct comprises a unique N-mer and a functional N-mer and segregating the constructs into a fluid compartments such that each compartment contains one or more copies of a unique construct. The invention further provides methods for digital PCR and for use of barcode libraries in digital PCR.

A method of labeling, and optionally enriching, for a population of target RNA molecules in a mixture of RNAs is provided. In some embodiments, the method may comprise (a) adding a label to the 5′ end of 5′-diphosphorylated or 5′-triphosphorylated target RNA molecules in a sample by incubating the sample with labeled GTP and a capping enzyme; and (b) optionally enriching for target RNA comprising the affinity tag-labeled GMP using an affinity matrix that binds to the affinity tag. The label may be an oligonucleotide, which may further comprise an affinity group attached either internally or at 5′ or 3′ end of the oligonucleotide where the oligonucleotide label may be added directly, or indirectly via a reaction with a reactive group to the target RNA.

A method of labeling, and optionally enriching, for a population of target RNA molecules in a mixture of RNAs is provided. In some embodiments, the method may comprise (a) adding a label to the 5′ end of 5′-diphosphorylated or 5′-triphosphorylated target RNA molecules in a sample by incubating the sample with labeled GTP and a capping enzyme; and (b) optionally enriching for target RNA comprising the affinity tag-labeled GMP using an affinity matrix that binds to the affinity tag. The label may be an oligonucleotide, which may further comprise an affinity group attached either internally or at 5′ or 3′ end of the oligonucleotide where the oligonucleotide label may be added directly, or indirectly via a reaction with a reactive group to the target RNA.

The invention includes a mutant Taq polymerase, which can significantly extend and amplify a target sequence where the extension conditions are time limited to as little as one second. The mutant Taq polymerase, or a biologically active fragment thereof, has one or more substitutions differing from the wild type as shown in Table I.

The invention relates to a method for modifying a template double stranded polynucleotide, especially for characterisation using nanopore sequencing. The method produces from the template a plurality of modified double stranded polynucleotides. These modified polynucleotides can then be characterised.

The invention provides barcode libraries and methods of making and using them including obtaining a plurality of nucleic acid constructs in which each construct comprises a unique N-mer and a functional N-mer and segregating the constructs into a fluid compartments such that each compartment contains one or more copies of a unique construct. The invention further provides methods for digital PCR and for use of barcode libraries in digital PCR.

The invention provides barcode libraries and methods of making and using them including obtaining a plurality of nucleic acid constructs in which each construct comprises a unique N-mer and a functional N-mer and segregating the constructs into a fluid compartments such that each compartment contains one or more copies of a unique construct. The invention further provides methods for digital PCR and for use of barcode libraries in digital PCR.

A method of preparing a library of tagged nucleic acid fragments including contacting a population of cells directly with a lysis reagent having one or more protease to generate a cell lysate; inactivating the protease to generate an inactivated cell lysate, and applying a transposase and a transposon end composition containing a transferred strand to the inactivated cell lysate under conditions wherein the target nucleic acid and the transposon end composition undergo a transposition reaction.