Abstract: Disclosed herein are method, materials and kits for detection of B. Burgdorferi infection or determining stage of Lyme disease in a subject. Exemplified is a method of diagnosing an infection in a subject, the method involving exposing a biological sample from the subject to a capture substrate under conditions for an infection marker in said biological sample to associate with the capture substrate to form a capture complex; associating said capture complex with a marker complex, said marker complex comprising an oligonucleotide; and amplifying said oligonucleotide of marker complex associated with said capture complex to produce an amplification signal; wherein an amplification signal above a predetermined signal threshold indicates that said subject is infected.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are method, materials and kits for detection of B. Burgdorferi infection or determining stage of Lyme disease in a subject. Exemlified is a method of diagnosing an infection in a subject, the method involving exposing a biological sample from the subject to a capture substrate under conditions for an infection marker in said biological sample to associate with the capture substrate to form a capture complex; associating said capture complex with a marker complex, said marker complex comprising an oligonucleotide; and amplifying said oligonucleotide of marker complex associated with said capture complex to produce an amplification signal; wherein an amplification signal above a predetermined signal threshold indicates that said subject is infected.

Abstract: An improved method for detecting, identifying and screening single polynucleotide polymorphisms, insertion/deletion loci, and microsatellites is provided. The method includes adding a donor intercalating dye to a sample containing an amplified target nucleic acid sequence, adding a probe containing an acceptor fluorophore to the sample, hybridizing the probe to the target sequence, exciting the donor dye with a specific wavelength of light, monitoring fluorescence from the sample due to FRET energy transfer from the dye to the probe fluorophore associated with one or both of the hybridization of the probe to the target sequence and the dissociation of the probe from the target sequence, and analyzing the sample using a melt-curve analysis to identify at least one single (or multiple) known or unknown nucleotide polymorphism, insertion/deletion loci, or microsatellite therein.

Abstract: An improved method for identifying and classifying organisms is provided. The method comprises the steps of obtaining a sample of DNA, isolating a portion of the sample to be analyzed, cutting the sample portion into at least two fragments, ligating both ends of the fragments with double-stranded linker sequences, adding the fragments to a polymerase chain reaction that amplifies a diagnostic region using a SYBR green-intercalating dye, and analyzing the fragments using a melt-curve analysis.