Applied Biosystems has released the BigDye XTerminator purification kit for higher quality DNA sequence data during Sanger sequencing, while shortening the time and work required for purification
Sanger sequencing is considered to be the gold standard method for DNA analysis and part of the workflow includes a clean-up step to remove by-products of the sequencing reaction from the labelled DNA fragments.
Insufficient removal of these by-products can result in shorter sequence read lengths and 'dye blobs' that make it difficult to accurately interpret results or obtain high quality data.
The BigDye XTerminator Purification Kit involves a simple four-step protocol that provides more reliable dye blob removal, increased sample stability and more reproducible, higher quality results.
Laragen, a service laboratory that provides DNA sequencing and analysis services for academic and commercial clients, is one of several organisations that tested the new kit.
"We have tried virtually all of the commercially available methods for DNA purification, and the BigDye XTerminator purification kit has provided us with the highest quality results we've seen and with less manual labour than other methods," said Jin Li, vice president of Laragen.
"Using this kit, we get very strong and even signals from beginning to end and longer sequencing reads, without dye blobs or lost samples."