Fluorescent labeling of a DNA sequencing primer.

Several oligonucleotides containing one to four fluorescein labels in various positions were synthesized and the fluorescence intensity and thermal stability of the duplex forms with their complementary sequences were measured. Oligomers that contain two fluorescein molecules, one attached at the 5' terminus and the other at an internal phosphate, were hybridized with less stability than that containing fluorescein at only the 5' terminus, but it formed more efficient primers for dideoxy sequencing with an automated sequencer.