Cleavage of delta and epsilon tubulin PCR products is observed upon PCR purification

In this study, we report an unusual phenomenon of the self-cleavage of purified PCR products of codon-optimized Chlamydomonas reinhardtii delta tubulin ( uni3 ) and epsilon tubulin ( bld2 ) genes through an unknown mechanism. Our studies revealed that intact PCR products for both these genes could be obtained upon PCR amplification from plasmid templates carrying these genes. However, interestingly, purification of these PCR products led to their cleavage through an unidentified mechanism. This cleavage persisted despite using different PCR purification kits. Deleting a synthetic intron within the delta tubulin gene also did not have any effect on this cleavage.