Should I include more than one variant for a given candidate locus in my myBaits Custom target sequences for bait design?

The decision whether to include >1 bait variant to represent additional diversity for a given region should depend on (1) the amount of diversity you want to have the ability to capture and (2) the maximum number of unique probe sequences that you want to purchase.

The ability of a given bait to hybridize to a target sequence will necessarily be dependent on the hybridization & washing conditions that you choose. Under the standard capture conditions, it is generally expected that a bait should be able to capture sequences of at least 5-10% local nucleotide divergence. Therefore, for example, it is normally not considered necessary to include probes for both allelic variants of a singleton SNP in a bait design, since a single bait should be able to capture both. However if you have many SNPs within a small window, you may wish to include >1 representative haplotype within your baitset. Please note that we cannot synthesize ambiguities or mixed bases; all non-A/T/C/G bases will be replaced by a random candidate base during manufacturing.