Method for suppressing DNA fragment amplification during PCR

A method for selectively suppressing the amplification of a non-target nucleic acid fragment in a mixture of nucleic acid fragments, comprising the steps of:

• (a) attaching a first PCR suppression adapter to each end of a nucleic acid fragment in a first nucleic acid sample, and attaching a second PCR suppression adapter to each end of a nucleic acid fragment in a second nucleic acid sample;
• (b) combining said first and second nucleic acid samples to form said mixture of nucleic acid fragments;
• (c) denaturing and reannealing said nucleic acid fragments;
• (d) contacting the nucleic acid mixture with a first nucleic acid primer comprising a nucleotide sequence that is complementary to a nucleotide sequence of said first adapter and contacting the nucleic acid mixture with a second nucleic acid primer comprising a nucleotide sequence that is complementary to a portion of the nucleotide sequence of said second adapter;
• (e) adding to said mixture obtained after step (c) an effective amount of reagents necessary for performing a PCR;
• and
• (f) cycling the mixture obtained after step (e) through at least one cycle of the denaturing, annealing and primer extension steps of PCR wherein amplification of said non-target nucleic acid fragment is suppressed during PCR.

A method for selectively suppressing the amplification of a non-target nucleic acid fragment in a mixture of nucleic acid fragments, comprising the steps of:

• (a) dividing a nucleic acid sample into a first and a second nucleic acid sample;
• (b) attaching a first PCR suppression adapter to each end of a nucleic acid fragment in said first nucleic acid sample and attaching a second PCR suppression adapter to each end of a nucleic acid fragment in said second nucleic acid sample;
• (c) denaturing and reannealing said nucleic acid fragments;
• (d) combining said first and second nucleic acid samples to form said mixture of nucleic acid fragments;
• (e) contacting said nucleic acid mixture with a first nucleic acid primer comprising a nucleotide sequence that is complementary to a nucleotide sequence of said first adapter and contacting said nucleic acid mixture with said second nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence that is complementary to a nucleotide sequence of said second adapter;
• (f) adding to said mixture obtained after step (e) an effective amount of reagents necessary for performing a PCR;
• and
• (g) cychng the mixture obtained after step (f) through at least one cycle of the denaturing, annealing and primer extension steps of PCR wherein amplification of said non-target nucleic acid fragment is supressed during PCR.