MP Biomedicals Accelerates Zika Virus Research by Providing Researchers with Quantitative Sample Preparation, Extraction and Isolation Solutions

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Recent Zika virus cases have emphasized the importance of research characterize arboviruses and specifically related members of the genus Flavivirus that are responsible for related diseases including yellow fever, dengue, West Nile virus, and various encephalitises and hemorrhagic fevers.

The FastPrep Suite of Sample Preparation instruments, Lysing Matrix Tubes and Purification Kits provides researchers with quantitative sample preparation, extraction and isolation of nucleic acids, proteins and small molecules from virtually any sample type including insects, infected tissue, soil, water, bodily fluids and feces.

The FastPrep-24 5G is an innovative benchtop bead-beating sample-preparation instrument producing thorough and rapid grinding, lysis and homogenization of routine and resistant samples. The mechanical sample lysis prepares the sample for the isolation of intact DNA, stable RNA and active proteins from all samples related to various arbovirus’ life-cycles.

Examples of downstream viral end-points achievable after FastPrep processing:

• Detection of viral RNA in virtually any sample by using reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) to determine infection.
• DNA sequence analysis to characterize symbiont to vector/host relationships for transmission fitness and for vector control strategies
• Nucleic acids and protein analysis to identify/confirm vector taxonomy and phylogeny, and to determine likelihood estimates of vector population infections (MLEs)

The FastDNA SPIN Kit for Soil rapidly and reproducibly isolates pure DNA from all organisms present in soil, fecal or other environmental samples.

FastDNA SPIN Kit for Soil benefits:

• Process up to twice the amount of soil compared to competing kits
• Flexible purification method allows up to 50 ug* or more gDNA recovery from a single sample
• Resulting pure gDNA is inhibitor-free and ready to use in PCR, qPCR, Sanger, NGS and WGS
• FastPrep instruments combined with FastPrep Lysing Tubes deliver quantitative sample lysis that is more efficient than other methods resulting in pure DNA of high MW and superior yield

The FastDNA™ SPIN Kit for Soil is designed to efficiently isolate bacterial, fungal, plant and animal genomic DNA from soil and other environmental samples including water, sediment, sludge and feces. Up to 500 mg soil are processed by FastPrep^® with optimized Lysing Matrix E tubes designed to efficiently lyse all microorganisms including difficult sources such as Gram + bacteria; eubacterial spores, endospores and parasitic oocytes; yeast and molds; algae, archea, invertebrates, and decaying plant tissue. The released DNA is purified by the patented GENECLEAN silica-based spin filter method which is scalable in binding capacity, allowing for maximum yields of inhibitor-free gDNA suitable for all downstream applications.

*Difficult samples successfully processed include Gram + bacteria including Bacillus spp., Cornybacterium bovis, Clostridium difficles, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus spp., Mycobacterium spp., and many Actinomycetes. Fungal DNA from genera such as Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Fusarium, Cryptococcus and Candida have been isolated and this kit will also process diverse samples such as bronchoalveolar lavage and oral washes. Parasitic ova such as Echinococcus granulosa has also been successfully processed making the FastDNA SPIN Kit for Soil the researcher’s choice for metagenomics studies of ecological microbial biodiversity, total microbial biomass quantitation and pathogenic species identification.

Isolation Workflow:

Downstream applications: RT-PCR, nested PCR, Sequencing, Gene Expression, Microarray analysis, Maldi-TOF MS.