Lanthanide ions as luminescent chromophores for the liquid chromatographic detection of polynucleotides and nucleic acids

Abstract

Europium(III) and terbium(III) can be used as luminescent chromophores for the liquid chromatographic detection of certain nucleotides and nucleic acids. The method is dependent upon an energy transfer from the nucleic acid to the lanthanide ion. Of the base moeities, only xanthine, quanine, and thiouridine have appropriate excited state energy levels for efficient energy transfer. The lanthanide ion can be added in pre- or post-column mode. The applicability of the method was demostrated for the detection of homologous polynucleotides such as poly X and poly G. The method was also used to detect transfer RNA from Escherichia coli.