Comparison of the miniPCR and Maxygen thermocyclers using primer sets that yield different amplicon sizes.

(A) Comparative images of agarose gel electrophoresis of DNA coding for EBOV GP protein using miniPCR and Maxygen thermocyclers. Different amplicon sizes obtained using the miniPCR (left section) and Maxygen (right section) thermal cyclers. From left to right: 91 bp (lane 1), 131 bp (lane 2), 167 bp (lane 3), 239 bp (lane 4), and 300 bp (lane 5), multiplex amplification of 91 and 167 bp (lane 6), and a negative control (lane 7). B) Evaluation of the amount of miniPCR-amplified DNA (as measured by Nanodrop Spectrometry at 260 nm), and (C) the purity (absorbance ratio at 260/280 nm) of DNA produced by primer sets that produce amplicons of different sizes. Primers that were aimed to produce amplicons of 91bp produced statistically lower amounts of DNA in miniPCR amplification experiments (p-value > 0.05). Error bars indicate one standard deviation.