Strand displacement detection of target nucleic acid

A method for determining a plurality of at least about 5 polynucleotides each suspected of containing a single nucleotide polymorphism (snp) in a polynucleotide complex mixture, said method comprising:

• a) amplifying said polynucleotides in said mixture to produce an amplified mixture of single stranded target polynucleotides;
• (b) combining said amplified mixture with a probe for each of said target polynucleotides comprising
• (1) said first oligonucleotide sequence that is complementary to said target polynucleotide,
• (2) a second oligonucleotide sequence that is complementary to and hybridized with a portion of said first oligonucleotide sequence thereby creating a hybridized region comprised of at least five nucleotides of said first oligonucleotide sequence and a single stranded region comprised of at least six nucleotides of said first oligonucleotide sequence, wherein said hybridized region of said first oligonucleotide is complementary with a portion of said target polynucleotide comprising said snp,
• (3) a linker connecting said first and second oligonucleotide sequences, and
• (4) a label capable of detection as a result of dissociation of said first and second oligonucleotide sequences, under conditions without disassociation of said hybridized portion in the absence of target polynucleotide;
• (c) detecting by means of said label formation of single stranded said second oligonucleotide sequence as determining the presence or absence of said snp in said target polynucleotide.