EMU: Acquisition of a Sanger sequencer and a capillary electrophoresis system to support biological and biomedical research at the Center for Biological and Health Sciences at UFSCar

• Grant number: 23/17182-6
• Support Opportunities: Research Infrastructure Program - Small Medium Sized
• Start date: September 01, 2024
• End date: August 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Molecular Biology
• Principal Investigator: Flavio Henrique da Silva
• Grantee: Flavio Henrique da Silva
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Anderson Ferreira da Cunha ; André Rodrigues ; Anthony César de Souza Castilho ; Cláudia Lima Verde Leal ; Enilza Maria Espreafico ; Hugo Miguel Preto de Morais Sarmento ; João Carlos Pinheiro Ferreira ; Lawrence Charles Smith

Abstract

This proposal covers the acquisition of two equipments: a Sanger nucleic acid sequencer and a capillary electrophoresis system. Both, if approved, will be part of the Multi-User Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology (LMBCM) at UFSCar, installed in the BioTrop building of the Center for Biological and Health Sciences at this university. The Spectrum Compact CE System sequencer contains four capillaries and supports simultaneous analysis of up to 32 samples per run. The sequencing function is based on the use of fluorescently labeled dideoxynucleotides (ddNTPs), which are compatible with most commercially available reagents based on the use of dTAMRA, dROX, dR6G, and dR110. The sequencer enables fragment analysis, de novo sequencing, next-generation sequencing (NGS) confirmation, mutation detection, mitochondrial DNA sequencing, DNA methylation analysis, microorganism identification, gene editing validation, and plasmid sequencing, among others. The other equipment requested, the 4150 TapeStation, is the one that has the lowest cost and is the most used by laboratories in the area. Through automated capillary electrophoresis, the 4150 TapeStation system supports the analysis of one to 16 DNA or RNA samples per run. This equipment is routinely used in molecular biology and nucleic acid sequencing laboratories to perform quality control and quantification of DNA and RNA samples and sequencing libraries, among others. Compared to other capillary electrophoresis systems, such as the Bioanalyzer, the 4150 TapeStation has significantly higher detection sensitivity, in addition to a fixed analysis cost per sample, regardless of the number of samples used in the run. (AU)