prepGEM Bacteria

MicroGEM’s Bacteria kit provides a simple automated approach to studying a wide range of microbial cultures. Every aspect of the MicroGEM method ensures the samples are processed quickly and gently. Minimal sample prep, closed tube processing, and gentle lysis ensure that cross contamination and DNA fragmentation are drastically reduced, making MicroGEM’s extraction process streamlined while preserving the integrity of low abundance species.

• Novel temperature-driven enzymatic lysis using a thermophilic proteinase in combination with mesophilic lysozyme
• Rapid workflow- 1/4th the time taken by other methods
• Easily automated for high throughput
• Closed system- no cross contamination and protection against pathogens
• Gentle lysis with no transfer steps- preserves DNA and improves community representation in metagenomic samples
• Minimal handling and pipetting of samples means DNA is exceptionally intact with high molecular weight
• Can be easily adapted to different sample types and workflows

Quick-Start Guide: prepGEM Bacteria

MicroGEM Brochure (watch it here)

MicroGEM Webinar (watch it here)

Targeted Amplicon Sequencing

Targeted sequencing of a subset of genes or defined areas of a genome can be an effective approach to study only regions of interest of a particular study. This can save a lot of time and money and reduce unnecessary complexity. Targeted amplicon sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene, the most commonly used gene in microbial systematics, has been particularly instrumental in increasing our understanding of the dynamic nature of microbial populations and their impact on the environment and human health. This approach has streamlined the study of bacterial diversity from various habitats, allowing the characterization of microbiomes and bacteria that would be hard to study with conventional methods.

The ability to detect bacterial strains which are in low abundance in microbiomes can drastically impact the interpretation of microbiological changes. Isolation of total DNA is the key step to ensure the sample obtained is truly representative of the community as a whole and is of high-quality, high-purity, and as unbiased as possible. Due to the obvious heterogeneity of the environmental sample, it is difficult to lyse cells of all species with equal efficacy.

Traditional and currently available methods are too harsh on the sample resulting in possible physical damage to DNA. This is a particular issue with regard to recovery of DNA from low abundance species.

The prepGEM Bacteria kit uses a novel cocktail of mild buffers, MicroGEM’s aggressive thermophilic proteinase (prepGEM) and mesophilic lysozyme to gently but effectively lyse cells from both gram positive and negative bacteria from metagenomic samples. This gentle lysis process without any transfer steps ensure that the integrity of low abundance species is preserved.