Best Tool Available

UniPrime projects provide a pleasant way to work with Universal Primers. Whether you're a hardcore Molecular Evolutionist or new to Molecular Biology, UniPrime will help streamline your workflow. With UniPrime (standalone) and UniPrime2 Web-server say hello to the fresh new look of your Universal Primer design and start seeing more successful multi-species amplifications.

Who it's for

Whether you're a interest in Molecular Biology, Ecology, Evolution or Phylogeny, chances are you already have plenty on your mind. UniPrime projects work by automatically retrieving and aligning homologous sequences from GenBank, identifying regions of conservation within the alignment, and generating suitable primers.

Screenshots

Perl Highly capable, feature-rich programming language

Primer3 Widely used program for designing PCR primers

T-Coffee Alignment software using a progressive approach

GramAlign Alignment software based on the natural grammar

PostgreSQL SQL standard support and many modern features

NCBI Resources Public databases for molecular biology information

Command-line High versatility for easy integration

Web Service User-friendly interface and API for remote access

Publications

Boutros R, Stokes N, Bekaert M, Teeling EC. (2009) UniPrime2: a web service providing easier Universal Primer design. Nucleic Acids Res. 37:W209-13. [abstract]
Bekaert M, Teeling EC. (2008) UniPrime: a workflow-based platform for improved universal primer design. Nucleic Acids Res. 36(10): e56. [abstract]

On-line vs. Off-line

UniPrime project is available as a Standalone module (call UniPrime) or as a WebService (call UniPrime2 WebServer). Either versions use the same backbone modules. UniPrime is build to be integrated in larger Unix/Linux project and provides a simple web-interface to only access locally to the results. UniPrime2 Web-Server is a robust dedicated web-services, platform independent, remotely accessible through the network. Download UniPrime or try UniPrime2 WebServer

How UniPrime Works

In a typical UniPrime-based workflow, you'll single gene or sequence reference. UniPrime retrieves and aligning homologous sequences from GenBank, identifying regions of conservation within the alignment, and generating suitable primers that can be used to amplify variable genomic regions. In essence, UniPrime reduces the laborious process of primer design, by integrating these programs into a single software pipeline. Hence, UniPrime differs from previous primer design in that all steps are automated, linked, saved and phylogenetically delimited.