Lockdown Probes promise 5000-fold enrichment

THE LATEST development from Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT) for next generation sequencing is its range of xGen Lockdown Probes. These are individually synthesized 60-120 nucleotide 5’-biotinylated capture oligonucleotides designed to enable cost-effective, high depth sequencing and analysis of specific regions of the genome.

The company says these probes are ideal for target enrichment and custom panel development, and capture sets can be easily expanded. They are available at three different scales (mini, 2pmole; standard, 20pmole; and XL, 200pmole). The intention is for users to design their initial capture panels using the mini scale, then extend them by progressively supplementing with more probes.

As a result, IDT says it is quick and simple to transition to higher volume applications.

Whether used with custom capture panels, or for supplementing existing panels, xGen Lockdown Probes are said to provide approximately 5000-fold enrichment with high coverage over targeted regions, and minimal GC bias.

Furthermore, the probes can be added to array-derived RNA baits to enhance coverage of GC-rich targets, such as first exons. Users can therefore improve capture performance by rescuing drop-out regions of array-derived exome capture, improve the uniformity of coverage, discover additional genetic mutations, or improve coverage of specific regions of interest without redesigning a new panel.

Each xGen Lockdown Probe is individually synthesised and quality assessed via mass spectroscopy. They are supplied in 96- or 384-well plates, or as pools of up to 2000 oligos.

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