The present invention relates generally to nucleobase polymer
functionalizing reagents, to mobility-modified sequence-specific
nucleobase polymers, to compositions comprising a plurality of
mobility-modified sequence-specific nucleobase polymers, and to the use of
such polymers and compositions in a variety of assays, such as, for
example, for the detection of a plurality of selected nucleotide sequences
within one or more target nucleic acids. The mobility-modifying polymers
of the present invention include phosphoramidite reagents which can be
joined to other mobility-modifying monomers and to sequence-specific
oligonucleobase polymers via uncharged phosphate triester linkages.
Addition of the mobility-modifying phosphoramidite reagents of the present
invention to oligonucleobase polymers results in unexpectedly large
effects the mobility of those modified oligonucleobase polymers,
especially upon capillary electrophoresis in non-sieving media.
