Bulk sequencing using MGI

© N. Ludwig
© N. Ludwig
© N. Ludwig

Since 2018, the NGS Sequencing Facility Homburg is using sequencing technology of MGI Tech. for RNA and DNA sequencing of isolated bulk samples. The current equipment includes the DNBSEQ-G400RS sequencer and the MGI-SP100 and MGI-SP960 High-throughput Automated Sample Preparation Systems for automated library preparation of 16 to 96 samples simultaneously. This allows the facility to run projects with +100 samples in a timely manner.

In contrast to the widely used Illumina technology, which uses PCR generated clusters and sequencing-by-synthesis, the MGI technology is based on DNA nanoballs (DNB) generated by rolling-circle amplification from a single stranded, circular library, that is sequenced using combinatorial probe anchor synthesis (cPAS). More detailed information on the proprietary MGI technology can be found on the company´s website (https://en.mgi-tech.com/products/resources).

The quality of the data generated by MGI technology has been shown to be comparable to the respective Illumina based data for DNA, RNA and smallRNA sequencing(1,2,3), although for most pipelines with lower per sample costs.

The following table gives an overview on the established workflows in the Facility detailing the requirements for sample quality and quantity*.

*Samples deviating from the listed requirements could potentially also be used but might result in lower data quality or additional costs.

**Whole genome sequencing can be performed in house using MGI technology, or with an external provider on Illumina chemistry.

1)Kim HM, Jeon S, Chung O, Jun JH, Kim HS, Blazyte A, Lee HY, Yu Y, Cho YS, Bolser DM, Bhak J. Comparative analysis of 7 short-read sequencing platforms using the Korean Reference Genome: MGI and Illumina sequencing benchmark for whole-genome sequencing. Gigascience. 2021 Mar 12;10(3):giab014. Jeon, S.A. et al. (2019) ‘Comparison of the MGISEQ-2000 and Illumina hiseq 4000 sequencing platforms for RNA sequencing’, Genomics and Informatics, 17(3).

2) Wang, G. et al. (2021) ‘Cross-platform transcriptomic profiling of the response to recombinant human erythropoietin’, Scientific Reports, 11(1), p.21705.

3) Fehlmann, T. et al. (2016) ‘cPAS-based sequencing on the BGISEQ-500 to explore small non-coding RNAs’, Clinical Epigenetics, 8(1), pp. 1-11. A