Microbiome

Microbiome Research

In the emerging field of microbiome research, scientists are challenged to identify and characterize unknown microbes that can be difficult to isolate, culture, and study. Applications of human, animal, and environmental microbiome analyses have the potential to lead to the discovery of new therapeutic and natural products. Our scientists are creating new solutions to help you culture and/or identify microbes for characterization of microbial communities.

To enable the discovery of novel microbes, we offer:

• MetaPolyzme for digestion of difficult microbes and isolation of total DNA
• DNA-free enzymes for contamination-free analysis
• Antibodies highly specific for bacteria and bacterial components
• Individual DNA standards and inactivated bacteria to avoid bias and increase reproducibility

Microbial Media

Microorganisms have diverse nutritional requirements, differing metabolisms, are inhibited by different compounds, and can often only be detected using specific indicator systems. Selective media allow the growth of only certain species or strains with specific attributes, while nonselective culture media promote growth of a broad range of organisms. Media with a differentiation system can be used to identify or at least to differentiate microorganisms from one another. For microbial community characterization and DNA preparation, we offer a wide array of microbial media and raw materials.

Microbiome Standards

Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology has facilitated sequencing of microbial DNA in large volumes, enabling complex microbiome sample analysis. In order to avoid bias and achieve reproducibility in microbiome analysis, standardization is critical. Standardization is key to the future of microbiome and metagenomic research that can generate accurate and valid data.

We offer a growing list of individual microbial DNA and inactivated bacteria microbiome standards that are suitable for PCR, sequencing and NGS. These convenient, ready-to-use individual standards add value by providing a specific, customized control. These economical standards support microbiomics or metagenomics workflows by increasing reproducibility and allowing reliable comparison of results from other laboratories.

Antibodies for Microbiome Research

Our portfolio of antibodies for microbiome analysis includes highly specific antibodies that bind bacteria or bacterial components (e.g. toxins, unique proteins and lipopolysaccharides), suitable for diverse applications for detection and isolation of specific bacteria. Key immunodetection applications include ELISA, Western blot (WB), imaging, and isolation.

DNA-Free Lytic Enzymes for Microbiome Research

The study of microbial communities has been revolutionized in recent years by the widespread adoption of culture-independent analytical techniques such as 16S rRNA gene sequencing and metagenomics. Since DNA contamination during sample preparation is a significant confounder of these sequence-based approaches, DNA extraction reagents free of DNA contaminants are essential. Another major challenge in processing microbiome samples is that microbes are difficult to disrupt – the cell walls can form capsules or resistant spores when processed. DNA can be extracted from the microbes by using lysing enzymes to induce partial spheroplast formation. These spheroplasts are subsequently lysed to release DNA. Purified lytic enzymes undergo strict quality control testing to ensure they will be free of DNA contaminants, and therefore suitable for microbiome research. Learn about our lytic enzymes here.

Microbiome DNA Purification Kits

In order to study the role of microbiota in human, animal, and environmental health, accurate and reproducible microbial data must be obtained. It is therefore vital to apply an appropriate methodology for the extraction of microbial DNA. Setting up the optimal DNA isolation procedure is critical for robustness and reproducibility of the results, as ineffective DNA extraction may result in microbial community mischaracterization. Our DNA purification kits provide convenient and rapid methods to isolate high-quality and high-yield microbial DNA from diverse samples.