Fluidigm has announced the release of 5 and 10kb long-range PCR protocols for its Access Array System.
Researchers interested in targeted re-sequencing projects for large cohort studies can use these new protocols and the Fluidigm Access Array System to amplify up to 48 samples per array.
Long-range PCR enables new applications on the Access Array System by allowing researchers to enrich significantly more sequence per sample.
Fluidigm's Access Array System is said to simplify up-front preparation and maximise the utility of next-generation sequencers.
It can be used with any PCR-based sample-preparation method and with reagents and primers of the researcher's choice to facilitate parallel amplification of 48 unique samples - in effect preparing 48 sequencing libraries - in a few hours.
'This provides the researcher with the capability to enrich up to 240kb per sample and 11.5Mb per array, or 480kb and 23Mb per array, respectively, from 48 samples at a time,' said Mike Lee, Fluidigm's senior director of marketing.
The output generated by Fluidigm's Access Array system can be used in many of the current range of next-generation sequencers, such as the 454 FLX, Illumina's Genome Analyzer II and Life Technologies' Solid 4.
The Access Array system minimises the costs and labour associated with running long-range PCR experiments by using as little as two microlitres of high-fidelity PCR master mix per 48 amplicons and minimising the entire workflow to three pipette steps per 48 amplicons.
Fluidigm's Access Array integrated fluidic circuit (IFC) is the first IFC that features the capability of harvesting a processed sample out of the chip.
Once the sample processing has been completed, the Access Array IFC automatically returns the processed sample to ports where it can be easily extracted and readied for sequencing.
