Parameters affecting susceptibility of PCR contamination to UV inactivation.

Contamination of reagents used for PCR is a serious problem. We have recently reported the remarkable effectiveness of UV light in successful decontamination of PCR reagents when the reagents were contaminated with a 6-kb plasmid, followed by amplification of 750-bp segment from the insert. However, further investigation reveals that segment size, sequence and hydration can have a dramatic effect on the efficiency of UV inactivation. Despite some limitations, UV remains a highly effective means of decontamination.