how do primers target a particular dna sequence
Polymerase chain reaction The vast majority of PCR methods rely on thermal cycling, which involves exposing the reactants to cycles of repeated heating and cooling, permitting different temperature-dependent reactions—specifically, DNA melting and enzyme-driven DNA replication—to quickly proceed many times in sequence. Primers (short DNA fragments) containing sequences complementary to the target region, along with a DNA polymerase, after which the method is named, enable selective and repeated amplification. As PCR progresses, the DNA generated is itself used as a template for replication, setting in motion a chain reaction in which the original DNA template is exponentially amplified. The simplicity of the basic principle underlying PCR means it can be extensively modified to perform a wide array of genetic manipulations. PCR is not generally considered to be a recombinant DNA method, as it does not involve cutting and pasting DNA, only amplification of existing sequences.
Origin of replication The genome of E. coli consists of a single circular DNA molecule of approximately 4.6 x 106 nucleotide pairs. DNA replication typically begins at a single origin of replication. In E. coli, the origin of replication—oriC—consists of three A–T rich 13-mer repeats and four 9-mer repeats. Ten to 20 monomers of the replication initiator protein DnaA bind to the 9-mer repeats, and the DNA coils around this protein complex forming a protein core. This coiling stimulates the AT rich region in the 13-mer sequence to unwind, allowing the helicase loader DnaC to load the replicative helicase DnaB to each of the two unwound DNA strands. The helicase DnaB forms the basis of the primosome, a complex of enzymes to which DNA polymerase III is recruited before replication can occur .[8]