A preliminary evaluation of a fast, low-cost, and high-throughput nucleic acid extraction method for bacterial microbiota profiling in low-microbial biomass samples.

The respiratory tract is colonized with low-density microbial communities, which have been shown to impact human respiratory health through microbiota-host interactions. However, a lack of fast and cost-effective nucleic acid extraction method for low-microbial biomass samples hinders investigation of respiratory microbiota. Here, we performed a pilot study to assess the suitability of the NAxtra nucleic acid extraction protocol for profiling bacterial microbiota in respiratory samples.

Single-cell mA mapping in vivo using picoMeRIP-seq.

Current N-methyladenosine (mA) mapping methods need large amounts of RNA or are limited to cultured cells. Through optimized sample recovery and signal-to-noise ratio, we developed picogram-scale mA RNA immunoprecipitation and sequencing (picoMeRIP-seq) for studying mA in vivo in single cells and scarce cell types using standard laboratory equipment. We benchmark mA mapping on titrations of poly(A) RNA and embryonic stem cells and in single zebrafish zygotes, mouse oocytes and embryos.