ExoMeth sequencing of DNA: eliminating the need for subcloning and oligonucleotide primers.

A method is reported for sequencing DNA based on exonuclease III digestion and strand protection by using modified nucleoside triphosphates. Up to 10 kilobases of sequence information may be obtained from each strand of a given template without subcloning. Prior knowledge of the restriction map is not important; prior knowledge of any of the sequence is not required. Nor are oligonucleotide primers needed. Double-stranded cosmids, plasmids, lambda phage, or linear molecules (including amplified molecules) may be used as starting material. The method creates a single-stranded template from these starting molecules, thus generating high-quality sequence ladders. Most commonly used DNA polymerases may be utilized, including reverse transcriptase and T7 DNA polymerase. The approach is "ordered", so little time is wasted on redundant sequencing.