Sequencing by avidity enables high accuracy with low reagent consumption

We present avidity sequencing, a sequencing chemistry that separately optimizes the processes of stepping along a DNA template and that of identifying each nucleotide within the template. Nucleotide identification uses multivalent nucleotide ligands on dye-labeled cores to form polymerase-polymer-nucleotide complexes bound to clonal copies of DNA targets. These polymer-nucleotide substrates, termed avidites, decrease the required concentration of reporting nucleotides from micromolar to nanomolar and yield negligible dissociation rates. Avidity sequencing achieves high accuracy, with 96.2% and 85.4% of base calls having an average of one error per 1,000 and 10,000 base pairs, respectively. We show that the average error rate of avidity sequencing remained stable following a long homopolymer. A sequencing chemistry that separates nucleotide identification from nucleotide incorporation achieves high accuracy.

Automated summary

We introduce avidity sequencing, a sequencing chemistry that optimizes the processes of stepping along a DNA template and identifying each nucleotide separately. By using multivalent nucleotide ligands and dye-labeled cores, nucleotide identification is achieved through polymerase-polymer-nucleotide complexes bound to clonal copies of DNA targets. This approach decreases the required concentration of reporting nucleotides and yields high accuracy.