The Techne TC-Plus thermal cycler from Bibby Scientific is said to be suitable for use when optimising for fast PCR protocols.
The thermal cycler has been shown to contribute to savings in PCR reaction times by using faster ramp rates, modified programs and modified reaction mixes.
It offers flexible programming and rapid block ramp rates of up to 5C per second.
Comparing the same PCR program on the TC-Plus with the slower TC-512 gave a time saving of around 30 minutes simply by using faster ramping (one hour compared with one hour and 30 minutes).
There were no appreciable differences in yield or sensitivity between the two thermal cyclers.
Another way to shorten runtimes is to modify the standard protocol by reducing the number of steps and/or hold times of individual steps.
A temperature gradient optimisation experiment changing from three to two steps using the TC-Plus saved 22 minutes (52 minutes of runtime for the two-step protocol, one hour and 14 minutes for three steps).
There was a decrease in the amount of 400bp fragments, but no noticeable difference in the yield of the 100bp PCR product.
Reagents specifically formulated for fast PCR contain specialised enzymes and stabilisers to facilitate rapid ramping and short hold times.
The use of a fast PCR mix gave improved yield and sensitivity compared with the standard mix when running a fast protocol on the TC-Plus.
Overall, however, this was lower than when using a standard protocol with longer hold times for each step.
The total runtime using the fast protocol was around 40 minutes, compared with a standard runtime of one hour on the TC-Plus or one hour and 30 minutes on the TC-512.
Rob Skehens, Bibby Scientific's marketing director, said: 'The results in our new application note show that while the faster ramping of the TC-Plus alone gives significant time savings, modifying the program and changing to a fast PCR mix can shorten runtimes even further.
'If any resultant compromises in yield and sensitivity are unacceptable, some reaction optimisation may be needed,' he added.