Guanine-rich sequences inhibit proofreading DNA polymerases

DNA polymerases with proofreading activity are important for accurate amplification of target DNA. Despite numerous efforts have been made to improve the proofreading DNA polymerases, they are more susceptible to be failed in PCR than non-proofreading DNA polymerases. Here we showed that proofreading DNA polymerases can be inhibited by certain primers. Further analysis showed that G-rich sequences such as GGGGG and GGGGHGG can cause PCR failure using proofreading DNA polymerases but not Taq DNA polymerase. The inhibitory effect of these G-rich sequences is caused by G-quadruplex and is dose dependent. G-rich inhibitory sequence-containing primers can be used in PCR at a lower concentration to amplify its target DNA fragment.