rRNA Depletion using Illumina Ribo Zero Plus
The Illumina Ribo-Zero Plus rRNA Depletion kit uses an enzymatic depletion method that targets human, mouse, and rat cytoplasmic and mitochondrial rRNA, globin transcripts, and bacterial rRNA with one reagent. Table 1 shows the RNA species targeted for depletion.
Table 1. RNA species targeted for reduction.
Ribo-Zero Plus uses DNA probes and enzymatic depletion to remove abundant transcripts from total RNA samples; whereas legacy Ribo-Zero kits use biotinylated RNA probes to pull down abundant transcripts with streptavidin beads (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. Ribo-Zero Plus and legacy Ribo-Zero depletion methods.
Ribo-Zero Plus can be used as a standalone kit with the TruSeq Stranded Total RNA workflow or the Illumina Stranded Total RNA library prep kits. The Ribo-Zero Plus reagent can be purchased individually or bundled with Illumina Stranded Total RNA. Ribo-Zero Plus does not come bundled with TruSeq Stranded Total RNA kits. If using Ribo-Zero Plus with the TruSeq Stranded Total RNA kit, Ribo-Zero Plus rRNA depletion reagents need to be purchased separately. The Ribo-Zero beads that come bundled with the TruSeq Stranded Total RNA kit are not used.
Table 2. Ribo-Zero Plus kit compatibility and bundling options.
When paired with the Illumina Stranded Total RNA kit, Ribo-Zero Plus offers key advantages that enable enhanced study flexibility:
“One tube (single kit) to deplete multiple species” functionality
Enhanced depletion at lower total RNA inputs
A more precise mechanism for depletion of targeted transcripts
The protocol for rRNA depletion is found in the Illumina Stranded Total RNA reference guide and is compatible with 1-1000 ng of total RNA input. Public data sets for Illumina Ribo-Zero Plus can be accessed through BaseSpace.
Custom probes can be added to the Ribo-Zero Plus workflow to target different species. The Ribo-Zero Plus custom design process involves inputting a list of target RNA species through an internal BaseSpace App. The BaseSpace App provides additional probe designs that can be added to Ribo-Zero Plus to deplete specified targets. For more information on the Ribo-Zero Plus custom design process, contact your local Illumina sales team. Probe pools will be ordered from a third party.
For more information on differences between Illumina Stranded Total RNA and TruSeq Stranded Total RNA, refer to the Differences between the Illumina Stranded and TruSeq Stranded RNA library prep kits bulletin.
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