During the hybridization/annealing phase of a PCR reaction,the primers bind to the target DNA sequence at a specific temperature.What effect would an increase in the GC content of the primer have on the optimal temperature for annealing the primer to a target DNA sequence?
A)the annealing temperature would increase
B)the annealing temperature would decrease
C)the annealing temperature would remain the same

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

An increase in the GC content of the primer would increase the strength of the hydrogen bonds between the primer and the complementary target sequence. As a result, a higher temperature would be required to break these bonds for the primer to anneal to the target sequence. Therefore, an increase in GC content would lead to an increase in the optimal annealing temperature.

During the Hybridization/annealing Phase of a PCR Reaction,the Primers Bind