Abstract: The invention relates to modified polymerase enzymes which exhibit improved incorporation of nucleotide analogues bearing substituents at the 3? position of the sugar moiety that are larger in size than the naturally occurring 3? hydroxyl group. Also described are methods of using the polymerases to incorporate nucleotides into polynucleotides, particularly in the context of DNA sequencing.

Abstract: The invention relates to modified polymerase enzymes which exhibit improved incorporation of nucleotide analogues bearing substituents at the 3? position of the sugar moiety that are larger in size than the naturally occurring 3? hydroxyl group. Also described are methods of using the polymerases to incorporate nucleotides into polynucleotides, particularly in the context of DNA sequencing.

Abstract: The invention relates to methods of generating templates for a nucleic acid sequencing reaction which comprise: providing at least one double-stranded nucleic acid molecule, wherein both strands of the double-stranded nucleic acid molecule are attached to a solid support at the 5? end, cleaving one or both strands of the double-stranded nucleic acid molecule, and subjecting the cleaved strand(s) to denaturing conditions to remove the portion of the cleaved strand(s) not attached to the solid support, thereby generating a partially or substantially single-stranded template for a nucleic acid sequencing reaction,

Abstract: The invention relates to a method of preparing a library of template polynucleotides which reduces and/or prevents the formation of adaptor-dimers. The invention also relates to the use of a library of templates prepared using the method of the invention for solid-phase nucleic acid amplification. In particular, the invention relates to a method of preparing a library of template polynucleotides which have common sequences at their 5? ends and at their 3? ends which is substantially free of adaptor-dimers.

Abstract: The invention relates to methods of generating templates for a nucleic acid sequencing reaction which comprise: providing at least one double-stranded nucleic acid molecule, wherein both strands of the double-stranded nucleic acid molecule are attached to a solid support at the 5? end, cleaving one or both strands of the double-stranded nucleic acid molecule, and subjecting the cleaved strand(s) to denaturing conditions to remove the portion of the cleaved strand(s) not attached to the solid support, thereby generating a partially or substantially single-stranded template for a nucleic acid sequencing reaction.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method of amplifying one or more nucleic acid templates on a solid support in a nucleic acid amplification reaction, for example by solid-phase PCR using one or more amplification primers attached to the solid support. The method is characterised in that the amplification primers used comprise a template-specific portion which is a sequence of at least 26 consecutive nucleotides and are not capable of annealing to target regions in the template under conditions of the amplification reaction. The method is particularly useful for amplifying human genomic DNA.