• Increase throughput with 1536- and 384-well assays
• Contamination-free transfer of nucleic acid samples without tips
• Save cost by minimizing reagent consumption and waste

Labcyte Echo® and Deerac liquid handling systems provide high-speed, low-volume, contamination-free reagent dispensing and total assay assembly for genomics applications including PCR, genotyping, gene expression, DNA sequencing and RNAi. Together these powerful technologies provide better results and minimize consumption of plasticware and tips, delivering cost savings and reduced waste.

qPCR Reaction Setup
Figure 1. The Labcyte Echo 555 liquid handler was used to prepare miniaturized quantitative PCR reactions in 2 µL and 5 µL total reaction volumes using just 10 – 500 nL of primers and probes. Results indicated highly consistent crossing point (Cp) values and low CVs. Full details here.

• SNP Genotyping

• PCR and DNA Sequencing

• Automated plating of bacteria for colony picking

• RT-PCR and Gene Expression Analysis

• RNAi Assays

Case Study - Miniaturization and Reduction of Assay Costs KBiosciences (Hoddesdon, UK) perform SNP genotyping services in 384- and 1536–well plate formats. Using the Deerac GX liquid handler, they have miniaturized PCR reagent mix additions from 5 μL to 250 nL. This provides:

For further information:
A-100 Low Volume Pipetting in SNP Genotyping

PCR and DNA Sequencing
Labcyte liquid handling systems are used in various stages of sample preparation and assay set-up for DNA sequencing:

• PCR reaction set-up for DNA template preparation

• Rolling Circle Amplification (RCA)

• Sequence reaction set-up

• PCR reactions

Figure 3: Sequencing reactions prepared using the Deerac GX liquid handler. Independent channel control allows flexible sample layout and increases throughput and efficiency.

Automated plating of bacteria for colony picking
The Deerac GX liquid handler enables the spotting of transformed bacteria in a defined and uniform pattern across an agar plate for optimum colony growth and increased colony picking efficiency.

For further information:
A-110 DNA Sequencing at the Broad Institute
A-150 Automated Colony Spotting
A-210 DNA Sequencing at the Gallo Research Center

RT-PCR and Gene Expression Analysis
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Case Study:The Institute of Molecular Medicine at Trinity College Dublin used the Deerac HTS platform to reduce real-time PCR reaction volumes, yielding significant cost savings per reaction.

Figure 4. PCR reactions at 2.5 mL (left) and 1.25 mL (right) prepared using the Deerac HTS liquid handler. Identical cycle times were obtained in for both volumes, and Cp precision was very low (0.2% CV at 2.5 mL and 0.3% CV at 1.25 mL).
 

In gene expression analysis using qPCR, the Labcyte low-volume liquid handling systems enable high-precision and high-throughput dispensing of master/primer-probe mix and/or cDNA.

For further information please download:
A-190 Miniaturizing Real Time PCR Reactions
A-200 Wash Procedures to Minimize cDNA Carryover
 

RNAi Assays
High-throughput miniaturized siRNA library screening using Echo liquid handlers delivers more accurate signal at lower reaction volumes.   

Case Study: The Institute of Molecular Medicine at Trinity College Dublin used the Echo 555 liquid handler to prepare standard, reverse and lipid-free siRNA transfections. Transfections prepared using the Echo liquid handler yielded more representative inclusion intensities, even than those prepared using traditional manual pipetting.

For further information:

Miniaturized siRNA Transfection Using Acoustic Droplet Ejection 

High-Content Analysis

Labcyte non-contact liquid handling solutions deliver precise volumes of compounds and reagents to live cells for high-content analysis.

Figure 5.Cells fixed and stained with the Deerac HTS liquid handler. Green = ERK, blue = nuclei.
 

Arraying
Labcyte Echo liquid handlers, Deerac GX liquid handlers and Portrait spotters can be used to build low-density arrays on flat substrates. These instruments are compatible with a wide range of fluid types, enabling array fabrication using nucleic acids, proteins, chemicals, live cells and more.

Figure 6. Protein arrays spotted onto a flat surface in 96-well format using the Deerac GX liquid handler.