A method for detecting the presence of a target nucleic acid sequence in a sample,
said method comprising subjecting said sample to an amplification reaction using
a set of nucleotides, at least one of which is labelled with a first label, and
a reagent comprising an amplification primer which can hybridise to said target
sequence when in single stranded form and which is connected at its 5 end
to a probe which carries a second label by way of a chemical linking group, said
labelled probe being of a sequence which is similar to that of the said target
sequence, such that it can hybridise to a complementary region in an amplification
product, and wherein one of the first or the second label comprises a donor label
and the other comprises an acceptor label, the donor label comprising a fluorescent
molecule which is able to donate fluorescent energy to the acceptor label; and
monitoring fluorescence of said sample. The method can be used to quantitate the
amount of target nucleic acid in the sample as well as to determine sequence characteristics.
Kits for effecting the method are also claimed.