Single-stranded conformation polymorphism and heteroduplex analysis

Abstract Single-stranded conformation polymorphism (SSCP) alone or in combination with heteroduplex analysis (HA) is one of the most widely used and practical approaches for mutation detection (1). The principal advantage of this method is that it is rapid to perform and can be carried out using equipment available in most molecular biology laboratories. When properly optimized, the method is highly sensitive, and many different mutations within a DNA fragment can often be distinguished on the same gel (2, 3). SSCP and HA can be performed on the same gel since, after the denaturation of the sample prior to loading, there is often the re-formation of a significant amount of double stranded DNA which will appear in a lower position from the single-stranded products on the SSCP gel. Since heteroduplexes can often be resolved from homoduplexes, the appearance of heteroduplexes on the SSCP gel can give additional information on the presence of variants.