QuantiTect Virus Kits

The QuantiTect Virus Kit is specially designed for highly sensitive detection of up to 4 viral nucleic acid targets by multiplex, real-time one-step RT-PCR using sequence-specific probes. Multiple viral RNA and/or DNA targets plus internal controls can be detected in a single tube without loss of sensitivity. The concentrated 5x master mix enables the addition of higher sample input and contains HotStarTaq Plus DNA Polymerase. The QuantiTect Virus RT Mix contains a unique formulation of Sensiscript Reverse Transcriptase that is optimized for highly sensitive detection of viral RNA. Two kit formats are available: the QuantiTect Virus Kit for cyclers that require ROX dye for fluorescence normalization and the QuantiTect Virus +ROX Vial Kit for other cyclers. For convenience, the master mix can be stored at 2–8°C.

Amplification using QuantiTect Virus Kits provides steep sigmoidal curves over a range of dilutions, even for low template amounts with high C_T values (see figure "  Unambiguous determination of C_T values over a wide dynamic range"). This enables accurate C_T value determination for quantification of viral nucleic acids in real-time PCR.

Multiplex assays enable the detection of multiple viral RNA and/or DNA targets plus internal controls over a wide linear range without loss of sensitivity (see figures " Reliable detection of viral RNA over a wide linear range" and "   Improved detection of low amounts of viral RNA").

QuantiTect Nucleic Acid Dilution Buffer, supplied with the kits, stabilizes RNA and DNA standards during dilution and reaction setup and prevents loss of nucleic acids on plastic surfaces, such as tubes or pipet tips. The buffer enables reliable dilution of standards used to quantify viral nucleic acids, giving a wide linear range, from low to high C_T values and ensures longer storage of standards without degradation (see figure " Reliable dilution and storage of RNA standards").

QuantiTect Virus Kits provide highly sensitive detection of viral nucleic acids in single or multiplex assays on the first attempt (see flowchart " QIAGEN multiplex kits"). The optimized master mix ensures that PCR products in a multiplex reaction are amplified with the same efficiency and sensitivity as PCR products in a corresponding single-amplification reaction.

Amplifying control and target genes in the same reaction, instead of separate reactions, increases the reliability of gene quantification by minimizing handling errors. The QuantiTect Virus Buffer contains a balanced combination of K⁺ and NH₄⁺ ions as well as unique synthetic Factor MP stabilizes, which together promote stable and efficient annealing of primers and probes to the nucleic acid template, enabling high PCR efficiency (see figure " Unique PCR buffer"). In addition, the unique formulation of Sensiscript Reverse Transcriptase ensures highly sensitive reverse transcription of viral RNA, while HotStarTaq Plus DNA Polymerase provides a stringent hot start, preventing the formation of nonspecific products.

QuantiTect Virus Kits provide highly sensitive real-time PCR analysis of viral nucleic acids (RNA and/or DNA) and internal controls using sequence-specific probes. Reactions can be carried out with or without a reverse-transcription step, enabling flexible design of multiplex assays to detect RNA targets, DNA targets, or both RNA and DNA targets. Follow the protocol in the handbook for fast and reliable results.

Kits are available with or without ROX passive reference dye in the master mix (see table).

For fast and highly sensitive end-point one-step RT-PCR applications, including virus detection, we recommend using the QIAGEN OneStep RT-PCR Kit.

QuantiTect Virus Kits provide highly sensitive real-time single or multiplex PCR or one-step RT-PCR using sequence-specific probes for detection of viral DNA and/or RNA plus internal controls. The kits can be used on a wide range of real-time thermal cyclers, including instruments from Applied Biosystems, Bio-Rad, Cepheid, Eppendorf, QIAGEN, Roche (except for capillary cyclers), and Agilent.