KASP Assay mix and KASP Master mix

KASP is a PCR-based genotyping chemistry suitable for genotyping SNPs and InDels. KASP has been used to genotype millions of samples worldwide. If you have you ever wondered “How does KASP work?”, this series of three videos explains the KASP reagents, the genotyping reaction and how the data is analysed.
This first video is about the components that go into a typical KASP genotyping reaction. These are:
1. The KASP Assay mix. The KASP Assay mix is the part of the reaction that is designed to target the specific SNP or InDel of interest. This animation shows a typical SNP assay and explains about the KASP Assay mix which contains the primers, which are simple un-labelled oligonucleotides.
2. KASP Master mix. The KASP Master mix is the universal part of the KASP reaction and can be combined with any KASP Assay mix. It contains two fluorescent reporter cassettes. It also has all of the other components that are typically found in a PCR mix including Taq polymerase. KASP uses a specially modified version of Taq that gives the PCR increased specificity. All of the important parts of the Master mix are described in the animation.
3. DNA. The final component of a KASP genotyping reaction is the DNA. The DNA sample will include the target polymorphism. In this animation the target polymorphism is a SNP, although KASP can also genotype InDels. These can be InDels of any size from a few bases to over a kilobase in size.
Once you are familiar with what goes into a KASP reaction then please watch the next video in this series to see how each component functions in the genotyping PCR.