*We have a new sample submission spreadsheet. Please download this new sheet! Hopefully you will find it easier to fill out.*
Download the currentMARS_SampleSubmission20220810Sample_submission spreadsheet, instructions are in the first tab. All submissions need to fill out the Project tab, most will also require the Samples for Sequencing tab, some will require the Samples for Extraction tab. Project names, sample names, and sample ID can only be alphanumeric. Your project name, sample name, and sample ID will be visible to everyone who has sames on the same sequencing run. Only you will see the data but everyone on the run can see the names. So choose names that are informative to you but coded if you are concerned about others seeing the names.
Submission standards
If you are submitting samples for extraction, contact us and we will send you tubes containing the beadbeating matrix and barcoded labels.
If you are submitting DNA, please submit in 96 well PCR plates frozen. We don’t have a hard cutoff for quantity or quality of DNA but be aware the very dilute or impure DNA could lead to difficulty amplifying and/or biased community recovered. If you submit DNA, we recommend a minimum of 50ng in 20ul water/tris/TE. If you perform test PCRs before submitting, let us know what conditions worked! Please arrange your samples in columns starting with A01 (top left well). Label your plate with your name, the project name, and the date.
See our how to ship for more details.
Turnaround time
Turn around time for our services is dependent on type of service and the number of samples that you submit. Here are estimated times. These are just estimates, if we have a large queue or if your samples fail library construction and require troubleshooting processing will take longer.
1. User constructed libraries for sequencing, turn around 1-2 weeks. If you check you libraries and pool them, we will only charge for library sequencing. If you need us to qc and pool your libraries, it is $4/sample + cost of sequencing.
2. Amplicons for 2-step library construction, 2-3 weeks. *contact us before you start, we need to give you sequences to add to your target primers*
3. DNA for MARS standard libraries (16S with either HMP (v4 Bacteria) or EMP (v4 Bacteria and Archaea) primers, fungal ITS). 3-5 weeks, if your samples are difficult to amplify they will take longer. If speed is your primary concern, run test PCRs with your regular 16S or ITS primers and let us know the conditions that work.
4. Samples for DNA extraction, library prep, and sequencing. Full runs of samples for extraction, library prep, and sequencing, 6-8 weeks.
Our prices are based on multiplexing many samples on each run, therefore if you submit only a few samples they must wait to be processed till the run is filled (this delay is greatest for samples for DNA extraction). Please contact us for current turn around time estimates.
If you are shipping samples to us, consult our how to ship and/or contact us for guidance on how to pack your samples.
Older notes on sample submission:
As of September 2016, you can not use period in the sample name. Illumia has changed their software so periods in the sample name cause the demultiplexing to fail. I agree “.” makes a wonderful deliminator and I liked using them in sample names but we can’t any longer. Since many programs that people use all have different reserved deliminators, MARS will only accept sample names that are alphanumeric.