Taq PCR Core Kit (250)

The kit from QIAGEN supplies Taq DNA Polymerase together with an optimized buffer system intended for routine PCR workflows. It is suited as a core solution for endpoint PCR, genotyping, and general molecular biology applications, with components formulated to deliver reproducible amplification under standard conditions.

According to the manufacturer's Quick-Start Protocol, the kit and its accompanying buffers and reagents should be stored at –30 to –15°C in a constant-temperature freezer. The kit is supplied with CoralLoad® PCR Buffer, which incorporates a gel-loading reagent and gel-tracking dyes, allowing PCR products to be loaded directly onto an agarose gel without adding separate loading buffer and tracking dyes. It is also provided with Q-Solution®, which can help amplify templates with high secondary structure or GC-rich regions; parallel reactions with and without Q-Solution are recommended when first establishing a primer–template pair. The PCR Buffer and CoralLoad PCR Buffer provide a final concentration of 1.5 mM MgCl2 in the reaction mix, which suits most applications, though additional 25 mM MgCl2 can be added if optimization requires it.

A typical reaction setup uses a 100 µl final volume, with 2.5 units of Taq DNA Polymerase per reaction and primer concentrations between 0.1 and 0.5 µM. Three-step cycling conditions are recommended: an initial denaturation at 94°C for 3 minutes, followed by 25–35 cycles of denaturation at 94°C, annealing at 50–68°C, and extension at 72°C, with a final extension of 10 minutes at 72°C. For PCR products longer than 1 kb, an extension time of approximately 1 minute per kb is recommended. A No Template Control should always be included, and a simplified hot-start procedure can be applied to improve specificity.