GATC Biotech introduces cross-platform barcoding system for
multi-sample sequencing on Roche GS FLX and Illumina Genome Analyzer

Constance, Germany, 10th February 2008 – GATC Biotech, Europe’s leading DNA sequencing service provider, announced today that it has developed a propriety barcoding system that allows an additional level of parallel processing with a virtually unlimited increase in the number of samples processed.

Unlike other methods, GATC’s system is suitable for use with the Roche GS FLX and Illumina Genome Analyzer. This barcoding method is especially well suited to DNA smaller than whole genomes (e.g. cDNA libraries, de novo sequencing of BACs, fosmids, viruses) whose sequencing would otherwise be impractical and expensive. The technique is highly efficient, resulting in 99.9% of sequences successfully tagged, which lead to dramatic cost savings.
 
The tags are nucleotides which are attached to the samples during the production of the shotgun libraries and read during the Next-Gen sequencing process. Following sequencing, samples will be sorted according to their tag. The new system will be applied to the recently installed ABI SOLiD System, too. The tags are very robust to sequencing errors caused by homopolymers.

Thomas Pohl, CTO of GATC Biotech, said: “We saw the need for a platform-independent barcoding system that was not limited by the number of tags used. We optimised the length of the tags so that they are sufficient for high-quality sequence sorting but also make the data loss acceptable when using Next-Gen sequencers which produce micro reads of 36 bases or less. Moreover, these sequencers are now a cost-effective option for de novo sequencing of, for example, organelles such as chloroplasts or mtDNA, as the number of micro reads is relatively low. We use DNASTAR’s SeqMan Genome Assembler for the assembly.”

The barcoding system is now available to GATC Biotech’s next-generation sequencing customers. The system has already been successfully applied to BAC sequencing projects with 50 individual tags using the GS FLX. Additionally, in cooperation with Prof. Dr. Christof von Kalle and Dr. Manfred Schmidt of the NCT in Heidelberg, GATC Biotech has used barcoding to improve the sequencing efficiency within the ongoing EU funded CONSERT project. The research project was set up to develop and improve gene therapy protocols for inherited diseases.

Contact:

GATC Biotech AG
Elke Decker

Senior Director Marketing
Jakob-Stadler-Platz 7
D-78467 Konstanz
Tel: +49-7531-8160-30
Fax: +49-7531-8160-81
e.decker@gatc-biotech.com