Kits designed to make it simple to start performing viability PCR with your choice of viability dye (PMA or PMAxx™).

Viability PCR starter kits contain the materials that you need for selective detection of viable cells using either PMA or PMAxx™ viability dye and real-time PCR. The contain Forget-Me-Not™ EvaGreen® qPCR Master Mix, and are available with or without Enhancer for gram-negative bacteria. The user will need to supply primers to amplify DNA from their species of interest (see this blog post for primer design considerations).

About this kit

This kit contains reagents sufficient to treat 80 cultures with PMA or PMAxx™, and perform 200 PCR reactions. There is an option to choose either PMA or PMAxx™ for the viability dye. Original PMA dye has been validated for vPCR in hundreds of publications and a wide variety of bacteria, yeast, and viruses. PMAxx™ is a next-generation vPCR dye designed by Biotium scientists to provide superior live/dead discrimination compared to PMA.

Kit options are available with of PMA Enhnacer for Gram-Negative Bacteria, a reagent that improves live/dead discrimination for gram-negative bacteria (note: Enhancer is not recommended for use with gram-positive bacteria or samples with mixed strains).

To learn more about the advantages of determining microbial or cell viability using viability PCR, visit the Viability PCR Technology Page and see the PMA/PMAxx™ Reference List and Validated Bacterial Strains List.