sanger SEQUENCING

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Please, DO NOT:

• USE PARAFILM
• FORGET THE ORDERING FORM
• FORGET TO UPDATE YOUR INFORMATION AT THE TOP OF THE ORDER FORM(S)
• SEND SAMPLES ON DRY ICE  (ROOM TEMP IS OK)
• WRITE SO SMALL THAT WE CANNOT READ IT

Please, DO:

• WRITE CLEARLY
• PUT YOUR FORM AND ALL TUBES INTO A ZIPLOCK BAGGIE. 
• USE SHORT, DISTINCT NAMES FOR ALL SAMPLES - ON THE TOPS OF TUBES, SUCH AS YOUR INITIALS AND A NUMBER (e.g., "UC25", "UC26", etc.)
• USE 1.5 mL TUBES, OR PCR-STRIPS (STRIPS OF 8 TUBES with attached caps) 
• ADD YOUR OWN PRIMER UNLESS WE ARE NEEDING TO DO A PCR CLEAN-UP FIRST, OR IF YOU ARE EXPECTING US TO ADD ONE OF OUR FREE STOCK PRIMERS
• INDICATE IF YOU WOULD LIKE (OR NEED) THE dGTP PROTOCOL (SEE BELOW)
• INCLUDE THE PRINTED FORM ALONG WITH YOUR SAMPLES
• INCLUDE CUSTOM PRIMERS WITH THEIR CONCENTRATION AND CLEAR LABELING (we recommend sending at least 1µL of 10µM stock primer per reaction); note - this is only necessary if we are doing a PCR cleanup reaction prior to sequencing 
• USE A LAYER OF BUBBLE WRAP OR PAPER TOWELS (PREFERRED) AROUND THE OUTSIDE OF THE BAGGIE CONTAINING YOUR TUBES / SAMPLES; OR, YOU MAY USE A STRONG SECONDARY CONTAINER FOR SHIPPING (50mL TUBES, ETC) IF YOU ARE WORRIED. 
• PERHAPS MOST IMPORTANTLY -- MAKE SURE TUBES ARE SNAPPED CLOSED!
• USE UPDATED FORMS IF POSSIBLE (FORMS AVAILABLE HERE)
• REACH OUT TO US IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS BEFORE SEQUENCING

Please follow these guidelines when preparing your samples:

Each sample tube (1.5ml tubes preferred) should contain one primer and one template at the quantities specified below:

• ssDNA plasmid:  0.25μg DNA/5kb    + 2 pmol primer in 13 µl
• dsDNA plasmid:  0.5μg DNA/5kb      + 8 pmol primer in 13 µl
• PCR products:    2-4ng DNA/100bp  + 8 pmol primer in 13 µl

Please note that the values listed for the primer are quantities, not concentrations, AND that these numbers are just a guideline for you.

A simple and approximate usage is to include (into the total 13µL volume), either: 

• 1µL of 10µM primer, or 
• 3.2µL of 3µM primer 

If requesting one of our stock primers, please make that clear and obvious on the order form in the SPECIAL INSTRUCTION COLUMN, and submit samples at 10uL total volume.

Regarding your DNA Samples: please be sure that you do not have SALTS, PROTEIN, DETERGENTS, RNA, CHROMOSOMAL DNA, ETHANOL, or EDTA.

Quantify your products on an agarose gel or use a NanoDrop / Qubit. Please let us know if your products are at a low concentration and/or are larger than 10kb.

Annealing Temperature: Our default annealing temperature is 50°C.  Please let us know if this is not compatible with your primer(s), and please indicate the required temperature. 50°C is preferable if possible, and generally works for most sequencing reactions!

Order forms can be filled out and printed from this web site by following the DNA Sequencing Order Form Download Link

Please also submit samples in a 96-well plate. We charge per sample, so you don't pay for empty wells. Please keep well A1 empty for our positive control.

We require samples to be submitted in a specific type of plate:

• Two piece construction; polypropylene with a polycarbonate rim for stability
• You may purchase these plates at the DNA Sequencing Facility for $6 each
• Description: Azenta FrameStar 96, semi-skirted, Cat. # 4ti-0770/c
• You can also order plates from BasicScientific.com
• Or VWR/Avantor, or Thomas Scientific
•  Please seal whole plates extremely well!  We are not responsible for leakage / loss during shipping!
• If you do not have the proper plate, we can use a liquid handler to transfer your sample into a sequencing plate in our lab, but please ~double the volume you provide to us, to help improve the accuracy of that transfer. 

When submitting samples in a sequencing plate (as mentioned above), the total volume per well should be 6µL, which includes:

dsDNA plasmid: 250ng/5kb  + 4 pmol primer or PCR product: 20ng/1000 bp  + 4 pmol primer.

If you are requesting the dGTP protocol due to the presumptive presence of secondary structure in your target sequence, please reduce the volume of your template+primer to 4µL.

Please download the Full Plate Sequencing Order Form, e-mail us a copy and print a copy to include with your plate. 

When filling out the form, please keep the following in mind:

• Sample names cannot have spaces, but may include the following:  -+.(){}_#
• Sample names may be up to 35 characters long.
• Indicate a unique plate name or barcode on the order form, and write it on the side of the plate

For templates larger than 10KB, please provide 1µg of template with 10pmol of primer in total volume of 13µL.

In addition, please write "Large  Template Protocol" in large print across the order form.

IMPORTANTLY -- If you suspect that there may be a secondary structure in your template, please indicate in BIG RED MARKER that you want "dGTP PROTOCOL."

The dGTP protocol may also help the polymerase read through GC- and GT-rich templates.

Please refer to our Nanopore sequencing service page.