Beckman Coulter CEQ 8000, User Manual

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CEQ™ 8000 Genetic Analysis System – User’s Guide
A16637-AA
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System Overview
This section describes the purpose and function of the system, provides an overview of
the three main components (chemistry, hardware and software) comprising the system
and details the safety features relevant to the system.
Purpose of this System
The purpose of the Capillary Electrophoretic (CE) Genetic Analysis System (CEQ) is
two-fold:
1. To determine the nucleotide sequence of any given DNA sample.
2. To estimate sizes of DNA fragments.
The system is comprised of three main components: chemistry, hardware and
software.
Functional Description
The CEQ Genetic Analysis System is fully automated and capable of determining the
base sequence and fragment length of DNA samples that have been prepared with
Beckman Coulter, Inc. dye-labeled reagents. Four-color, dye-labeled terminator
chemistry kits are used to process samples for base sequence analysis. Generation of
samples for fragment length analysis is performed using dye-labeled primers.
The CEQ 8000 accepts up to 96 four-color samples in a microplate. Each row of eight
samples (sample set), containing labeled DNA fragments, is automatically denatured
and then separated by capillary electrophoresis. The replaceable medium (separation
gel) is automatically replaced in the eight capillaries after each separation. The
separation gel supply is an easily replaced cartridge with a capacity sufficient for a full
microplate (96 samples).
Detection is by laser-induced fluorescence in four spectral channels. The four-channel
raw data sets generated by each of the eight capillaries are automatically processed to
produce high quality base sequences or fragment lists after separation.
Raw and analyzed data are stored in a database and may also be exported in file
formats compatible with common analysis applications.
Hardware
The hardware carries out the task of sample handling as well as tasks associated with
the separation and detection phases of electrophoresis.
Figure 1 shows the CEQ 8000 instrument. The user accessible hardware components
of the CEQ instrument are described below.