(51) International Patent Classification: C12P21/06 (2006.01) (21
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( 2 (51) International Patent Classification: C12P21/06 (2006.01) (21) International Application Number: PCT/US20 19/032701 (22) International Filing Date: 16 May 2019 (16.05.2019) (25) Filing Language: English (26) Publication Language: English (30) Priority Data: 62/672,480 16 May 2018 (16.05.2018) US 62/779,371 13 December 2018 (13. 12.2018) US (71) Applicant: BIO-RAD LABORATORIES, INC. [US/US]; 1000 Alfred Nobel Drive, Hercules, CA 94547 (US). (72) Inventors: BIBILLO, Arkadiusz; 10100 Torre Ave. #144, Cupertino, CA 95014 (US). PATEL, Pranav; 34201 Oneil Terrace, Freemont, CA 94555 (US). (74) Agent: MEYERS, Thomas C. et al.; Brown Rudnick LLP, One Financial Center, Boston, MA 021 11 (US). (81) Designated States (unless otherwise indicated, for every kind of national protection available) : AE, AG, AL, AM, AO, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BH, BN, BR, BW, BY, BZ, CA, CH, CL, CN, CO, CR, CU, CZ, DE, DJ, DK, DM, DO, DZ, EC, EE, EG, ES, FI, GB, GD, GE, GH, GM, GT, HN, HR, HU, ID, IL, IN, IR, IS, JO, JP, KE, KG, KH, KN, KP, KR, KW, KZ, LA, LC, LK, LR, LS, LU, LY, MA, MD, ME, MG, MK, MN, MW, MX, MY, MZ, NA, NG, NI, NO, NZ, OM, PA, PE, PG, PH, PL, PT, QA, RO, RS, RU, RW, SA, SC, SD, SE, SG, SK, SL, SM, ST, SV, SY, TH, TJ, TM, TN, TR, TT, TZ, UA, UG, US, UZ, VC, VN, ZA, ZM, ZW. (84) Designated States (unless otherwise indicated, for every kind of regional protection available) : ARIPO (BW, GH, GM, KE, LR, LS, MW, MZ, NA, RW, SD, SL, ST, SZ, TZ, UG, ZM, ZW), Eurasian (AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, RU, TJ, TM), European (AL, AT, BE, BG, CH, CY, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HR, HU, IE, IS, IT, LT, LU, LV, MC, MK, MT, NL, NO, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SI, SK, SM, TR), OAPI (BF, BJ, CF, CG, Cl, CM, GA, GN, GQ, GW, KM, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG). Published: — without international search report and to be republished upon receipt of that report (Rule 48.2(g)) (54) Title: METHODS FOR PROCESSING NUCLEIC ACID SAMPLES (57) Abstract: The present disclosure provides methods and systems for amplifying and analyzing nucleic acid samples. The present disclosure provides methods for preparing cDNA and/or DNA molecules ad cDNA and/or DNA libraries using modified reverse tran¬ scriptases. METHODS FOR PROCESSING NUCLEIC ACID SAMPLES RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/672,480, filed on May 16, 2018, and to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/779,371 filed on December 13, 2018, the contents of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. BACKGROUND [0002] A common technique used to study gene expression in living cells is to produce complementary deoxyribonucleic acid (cDNA) from a ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecule. This technique provides a means to study RNA from living cells which avoids the direct analysis of inherently unstable RNA. As a first step in cDNA synthesis, the RNA molecules from an organism are isolated from an extract of cells or tissues of the organism. After messenger RNA (mRNA) isolation, using methods such as affinity chromatography utilizing oligo dT (a short sequence of deoxy-thymidine nucleotides), oligonucleotide sequences are annealed to the isolated mRNA molecules and enzymes with reverse transcriptase activity can be utilized to produce cDNA copies of the RNA sequence, utilizing the RNA/DNA primer as a template. Thus, reverse transcription of mRNA is a key step in many forms of gene expression analyses. Generally, mRNA is reverse transcribed into cDNA for subsequent analysis by primer extension or polymerase chain reaction. [0003] Reverse transcriptase has both an RNA-directed DNA polymerase activity and a DNA-directed DNA polymerase activity. The reverse transcription of RNA templates may require a primer sequence which is annealed to an RNA template in order for DNA synthesis to be initiated from the 3 ’ OH of the primer. At room temperature, reverse transcriptase enzymes may allow formation of both perfectly matched as well as mismatched DNA/RNA hybrids. In some instances, a reverse transcriptase enzyme can produce large amounts of non-specific cDNA products as a result of such non-specific priming events. The products of non-specific reverse transcription can interfere with subsequent cDNA analyses, such as cDNA sequencing, real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and alkaline agarose gel electrophoresis, among others. Non-specific cDNA templates produced by non-specific reverse transcriptase activity can present particular difficulties in applications such as real-time PCR. In particular, such non specific cDNA products can give rise to false signals which can complicate the analysis of real time PCR signals and products. Thus, the reduction of non-specific reverse transcriptase activity may result in greater specificity of cDNA synthesis. Currently, there are no reliable and easy to use methods for improving the specificity of reverse transcription. The present disclosure satisfies these and other needs. [0004] Several approaches may be used for obtaining transcriptome data from single cells. A pioneer approach used reverse transcriptase and oligo-dT primers with a T7 phage RNA polymerase promoter sequence attached to the 5’ end of the oligo-dT run. The resulting cDNA was transcribed into multiple copies of RNA which were then converted back to cDNA (Phillips, et a , Methods 10(3):283-288 (1996)). This often truncates the cDNA molecule, losing 5 ’ sequences of the original RNA, especially for relatively long transcripts, and requires multiple rounds of processing when starting with low quantity (LQ) of cells, further exacerbating cDNA truncation. A recent modification (Hashimshony, et a , Cell Rep. 2(3):666-673 (2012)) enables multiplex analyses, but this is still 3 ’ end sequence biased. Other methods are based on PCR amplification of cDNA (Liu, et ak, Methods Enzymol. 303:45- 55 (1999), Ozsolak, et ak, Genome Res. 20(4):5 19-525 (2010), Gonzalez, et ak, PLoS ONE. 5(l2):el44l8 (2010), Kanamori, et ak, Genome Res. 21(7): 1150-1 159 (2011), Islam, et ak, Genome Res. 21(7): 1160-1 167 (2011), Tang, et ak, Nat. Methods. 6(5):377-382 (2009), Kurimoto, et ak, Nucleic Acids Res. 34(5):e42 (2006), Qiu S, et ak, Front Genet. 3:124 (2012)). [0005] These approaches, however, may yield biased representations of sequences along the mRNA, and fail to give complete sequences for mRNAs (e.g., long mRNAs) because DNA templates (e.g., long DNA templates) are discriminated against even when a long PCR reaction is used. SUMMARY [0006] In some aspects, the disclosure provides a method for generating a non-naturally occurring enzyme comprising: a) expressing a heterologous sequence encoding said non- naturally occurring enzyme in a host, wherein said non-naturally occurring enzyme comprises: a first domain, such as a finger domain, derived from an R2 retrotransposon; a second domain, such as a thumb domain, derived from an R2 retrotransposon; a third domain, such as a palm domain, derived from an R2 retrotransposon; and an endonuclease domain derived from an R2 retrotransposon; b) purifying said non-naturally occurring enzyme from said host, thereby generating said non-naturally occurring enzyme. In some instances, said non-naturally occurring enzyme further comprises a fusion-tag molecule. In other instances, said fusion tag-molecule stabilizes said non-naturally occurring enzyme and said fusion-tag molecule is selected from the group consisting of: Fh8, MBP, NusA, Trx, SUMO, GST, SET, GB1, ZZ, HaloTag, SNUT, Skp, T7PK, EspA, Mocr, Ecotin, CaBP, ArsC, IF2-domain I, an IF2-domain I derived tag, RpoA, SlyD, Tsf, RpoS, PotD, Crr , msyB, yjgD, rpoD, and His6. In other cases, said fusion-tag molecule is selected from the group consisting of: His-tag, His6-tag, Calmodulin-tag, CBP, CYD (covalent yet dissociable NorpD peptide), Strep II, FLAG-tag, HA-tag, Myc-tag, S-tag, SBP-tag, Softag-l, Softag-3, V5-tag, Xpress-tag, Isopeptag, SpyTag, B, HPC (heavy chain of protein C) peptide tags, GST, MBP, biotin, biotin carboxyl carrier protein, glutathione-S- transferase-tag, green fluorescent protein-tag, maltose binding protein-tag, Nus-tag, Strep-tag, and thioredoxin-tag. In some instances, at least one of said first domain, said second domain, said third domain, or said endonuclease domain, is derived from an arthropod. In some instances at least one of said first domain, said second domain, said third domain, or said endonuclease is derived from a vertebrate, an echinoderm, a flatworm, a hydra, or silkmoth. In some instances, said non-naturally occurring enzyme has at least 90% identity to SEQ ID NOs: 1-20. In some aspects, said host is selected from bacteria, yeast, algae, cyanobacteria, fungi, a plant cell, E. coli, or any combination thereof. In some instances, said non-naturally occurring enzyme comprises a mutagenized motif- 1 sequence. In some instances, said mutagenized motif - 1sequence has an improved jumping activity as compared to a wild-type sequence. In some instances, said non-naturally occurring enzyme comprises a mutagenized motif 0 sequence. In some instances, said mutagenized motif 0 sequence has an improved jumping activity as compared to a wild-type sequence. In some instances, said non-naturally occurring enzyme comprises a mutagenized thumb sequence. In some instances, said mutagenized second domain sequence has an improved single-stranded priming efficiency or an improved processivity. [0007] In some instances, the disclosure provides a non-naturally occurring enzyme, comprising (i) a first domain, such as a finger domain, from an R2 retrotransposon; (ii) a second domain, such as a thumb domain, derived from an R2 retrotransposon; (iii) a third domain, such as a palm domain, derived from an R2 retrotransposon; and (iv) an endonuclease domain derived from an R2 retrotransposon.