Synthesis of TaqMan probes using bisphosphoramidite of cyanine dye Cy3

A method of the synthesis of TaqMan probes with the use of bisphosphoramidite of cyanine dye Cy3 was proposed. The synthesis results in two variants of the probes consisting of either one or two oligonucleotide residues (bearing a quencher at the 3' end) attached to the dye, with the first variant being predominant. The RT-PCR probe of the classical structure bearing one oligonucleotide residue was shown to be more efficient as compared to the probe containing two oligonucleotides.