Scientific Posters
Zymo Research's scientific posters highlight the latest breakthroughs in molecular biology, showcasing innovations spanning from epigenetics to microbiomics. We are proud to present insights from our collaborations with leading scientists and institutions worldwide, with more contributions to the field of life science on the horizon.
Featured Poster
An Integrated Approach for Pathogen Detection, AMR Monitoring, and Functional Analysis in Wastewater
X. Cheng , J. Wilkinson, K. Ngo , P. Baybayan, Y. Kim, P. Pham, E. Carrasco, S. Tang, J. Shen, and K. LockenWastewater surveillance has emerged as a pivotal tool in public health epidemiology. Particularly catalyzed by the Covid-19 pandemic, modern culture-independent sequencing methods have become indispensable due to their ability to offer a comprehensive perspective.
View PosterUrine Preservation and Stabilization and its application in Microbial Urinalysis
Michiko Suwoto, John Sherman, Eric Kircher, Shuiquan Tang, Ryan Kemp, Yap Ching Chew, Xi Yu JiaUrine is an ideal sample input for many applications because of its easy and non-invasive collection procedure. However, nucleic acid detection in urine can lack sensitivity and be problematic due to nucleic acid instability and bacterial contamination in the sample. In addition, biased microbial lysis in urine hinders accurate sample analysis. To address these problems, we developed improved urine collection and purification procedures for molecular and microbial testing, from sample collection to sample analysis. In this study, a stool sample was spiked into a urine sample to simulate stool contamination in urine. Next, Urine Conditioning Buffer™ (UCB™), a uniquely formulated nucleic acid preservation and stabilization reagent, was added to the urine sample. To analyze the stability of the nucleic acids in the sample, urine was stored at room temperature at different time intervals: 0 days, 2 weeks, and 1 month. At each timepoint, DNA was extracted using the ZymoBIOMICS® DNA Miniprep Kit, which includes an efficient lysis system which enables unbiased lysis of microbes. The microbial composition of the DNA was then profiled via 16S rRNA gene targeted sequencing. The results of the 16S rRNA gene targeted sequencing analysis showed that the bacterial profile composition of UCB™- preserved urine remained consistent throughout the different time intervals (0 days, 2 weeks, and 1 month), indicating that there was no bacterial blooms or nucleic acid degradation. In this analysis, we also showed that DNA from both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria were successfully extracted using the ZymoBIOMICS® DNA Miniprep Kit. These findings demonstrated that UCB™ can be reliably used as a preservative for urine samples collected for microbiome profiling because it inhibits microbial growth and preserves the DNA in the urine sample at room temperature over a month period. Furthermore, UCB™ was designed to concentrate the sample, making the large unwieldly urine volumes more manageable (e.g. 40 ml is concentrated to < 200 µl) without leading to microbial profiling bias. Finally, UCB™ uses precipitation to separate out the DNA fraction, which avoids relying entirely on centrifugation for separation and leads to the recovery of DNA that is typically lost in supernatant removal. Here, we presented an improved urine collection procedure to stabilize nucleic acids in urine samples, coupled to an unbiased microbial urinalysis.
View PosterStandardizing Microbiomics: Removing Bias and Errors in Collection, Purification, and Analyses
Ryan Kemp, Shuiquan Tang, Elinne Becket, Larry Jia, Marc Van Eden, Standa Forman, Eric Kircher, John Sherman, Luigi Basillio, Michelle Thai, Steven Wong, and Mikayla MagerMicrobial composition profiling techniques powered by Next-Generation sequencing (NGS) are becoming routine studies. However, it is well known that results are prone to bias and errors in every step of the workflow, including sample collection, DNA /RNA extraction, library preparation, sequencing and bioinformatics analysis. Therefore, standardization of these NGS workflows is necessary to minimize bias and improve data quality and reproducibility in microbiomics studies. The figure on the right shows challenges associated with each step. At Zymo Research, we have constructed a comprehensive product line, coined ZymoBIOMICS®, designed for unbiased, accurate microbiomics and metagenomics analyses and validated using the ZymoBIOMICS® Microbial Community/DNA Standards
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