ABI Reagents

Here are reagents you want to use with the ABI:

Sequencing

We have ordered large quantities of the ABI BigDye Terminators. These are the most robust terminators available & we highly recommend their use. This reagent costs about $5 for a full-size (20 uL) reaction (8 of the 20 uL is terminator mix). It can, however, be extended (i.e. diluted) to reduce the cost to less than $2 per reaction. However, we have limited amounts of the extending reagent on hand. If you order the extender, we will add it to our terminators & return an equal dollar amount of "diluted" terminator mix to you.

You should get halfBD from Genpak Inc. This is sold in $80, $370, and $700 amounts.

If for example, you were to get $80 of halfBD (= 400 uL) we would give you back 200 uL of diluted BigDye terminator mix. This would allow you to do 25 full-size sequencing reactions, or 50 half-size reactions. You can further reduce costs by diluting more (see the halfBD web page) and/or by purchasing larger quantities. This approach is, however, limited by the laws of diminishing returns.

Make your own "Home-made Half-Term" = 400mMTris-HCl, pH9.0 containing 10mM MgCl2. We routinely use this by mixing 1:1 or 1:3 (ABI BigDYE or Amersham DYEnamic ET terminator mix to Home-made Half-Term) and using a total volume of 10 µL (i.e., 1/4 or 1/8 reactions). For more details, see Bruce Roe's web page on ABI sequencing.

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