Fluidigm's Access Array System: New 5kb and 10kb long-range PCR protocols introduced

Fluidigm Corporation today announced the release of 5kb 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 simplifies the up-front preparation and maximizes the utility of today’s 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 just a few hours.

“With our new long range PCR protocol, each sample for re-sequencing can be amplified against 48 unique amplicons -- each up to 5kb or 10kb long. 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. “While next-generation sequencing bandwidth, efficiency, and data output continue to grow at a rapid pace, there have been no simple solutions to target multiple regions-of-interest within the genome across a large number of samples simultaneously. Our Access Array system is a solution that easily and cost-effectively addresses this need. This broadens the possible applications space for next-generation sequencing."

The output generated by Fluidigm’s Access Array system can be used in many of the current crop of next generation sequencers, such as the 454 FLX, Illumina’s Genome Analyzer II and Life Technologies’ SOLiD 4.

The Access Array system minimizes the costs and labor associated with running long range PCR experiments by using as little as two microliters of expensive high-fidelity PCR master mix per 48 amplicons and minimizing the entire workflow to three pipette steps per 48 amplicons. A researcher is now capable of enriching up to 23Mb per array in as little as four hours and for less than $7 per sample.

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.