US Patent 10385388 Cleavable competitor polynucleotides

The invention relates to polynucleotide combinations and their use in allele-specific enrichment, amplification, and detection. The disclosure also provides methods to multiplex various target DNA molecules in a single tube with high sensitivity and specificity. The disclosure provides a polynucleotide competitor that comprises a sequence that is fully complementary to a first target DNA polynucleotide region (T1) such that the competitor polynucleotide will hybridize to the first target DNA polynucleotide region under appropriate conditions. In another aspect, the polynucleotide competitor comprises a mismatch to a non-target DNA polynucleotide that is a sequence variant of the first target DNA polynucleotide region (T1*).