HIGH SPEED, HIGH FIDELITY, HIGH SENSITIVITY NUCLEIC ACID DETECTION

1 . A kit for nucleic acid detection comprising:

a plurality of target-specific nucleic acid probes that are each complementary to a target nucleic acid, including a first target-specific nucleic acid probe, a nanorod detection probe and a second target-specific nucleic acid probe, wherein upon hybridization to the target nucleic acid the plurality of target-specific nucleic acid probes will be directly adjacent to each other;

a molecular post bound to a solid support, where the molecular post binds to the first target-specific nucleic acid probe, the nanorod detection probe to the second target-specific nucleic acid probe, the first target-specific nucleic acid probe and the second target-specific nucleic acid probe are positioned at the 5′ and 3′ end, respectively, of the series of target specific nucleic acid probes and the plurality of target-specific nucleic acid probes ligate together to produce a ligation product, and where the molecular post is selected from the group consisting of F1-ATPases, actomyosin, ciliary axonemes, bacteria flagellar posts, kinesin/microtubules, and nucleic acid helicases; and

exonuclease or a denaturing agent or both for treating the ligation product.

2 - 3 . (canceled)

4 . The kit of claim 1 , wherein the solid support comprises a glass coverslip.

5 - 9 . (canceled)

10 . The kit of claim 1 , wherein the nanorod detection probe comprises a gold nanorod.

11 . The kit of claim 4 , wherein the nanorod detection probe comprises a gold nanorod.