One of the original glass beads used for beating, 100 µm Silica Beads are small, yet dense enough to mechanically disrupt bacterial cell walls, or in combination with larger beads, disrupt fungi and plant cells. Comparable to Lysing Matrix B, these glass beads are effective for disrupting bacteria by bead beating for nucleic acid (genomic DNA and RNA) and protein extractions. The 100 micron glass beads are useful for homogenizing bacterial cultures or disrupting microbes from environmental samples. Bead beating with glass beads can be done in 2 ml homogenization tubes up to vials and small jars (see Guide to Bead Beating for options). Silica beads are acid washed and baked to both remove contaminants and destroy nucleases and proteases. The bulk (bottle) packaging is an economical alternative to pre-filled tubes.
Silica beads are available in Acid Washed, Low Binding, and and Molecular Biology Grade format. Since untreated beads are notorious for containing large amounts of debris and dust, all beads are acid washed, at a minimum, prior to packaging.
Low Binding Beads are chemically altered using a proprietary process to bind less biomolecules liberated from samples following homogenization.
Molecular Biology Grade Beads are certified nucleic acid, DNase, RNase, and protease-free. They are most appropriate for the homogenization of samples for molecular biology applications using DNA and RNA, including PCR, which may be hindered by the presence of nucleases and/ or proteases, as well as for Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) and metatranscriptome analysis
Pre-Filled Tubes are a convenient solution for labs seeking time savings by no longer requiring researchers to weigh, fill and QC individual tubes. They are available in 2 mL skirted (i.e., self-standing) or unskirted (i.e., conical bottom) polypropylene tubes to ensure compatibility with most tube homogenizers. Clear screw caps with O-rings included.
Citations
Acosta, K, Sorrels, S, Chrisler, WB, Huang, W, Gilbert, S, Brinkman, T, Michael, TP, Lebeis, SL, and Lam, E. 2023c. Optimization of molecular methods for detecting Duckweed-Associated bacteria. Plants. 12:872 (Optimized bead-beating protocol to co-isolate nucleic acids from both duckweed and bacteria)
Cheng, Y, Huang, W, Lo, S-C, Huang, E, Chiang, E I, Huang, C-C, and Yang, Y 2023d. Conversion of Escherichia coli into Mixotrophic CO2 Assimilation with Malate and Hydrogen Based on Recombinant Expression of 2-Oxoglutarate:Ferredoxin Oxidoreductase Using Adaptive Laboratory Evolution. Microorganisms. 11:253 (Genomic DNA isolation and sequencing of bacteria)
Zoqratt, MZHM, Gan, HM. The Microbiota of Malaysian Fermented Fish Sauce. bioRxiv 2020, 2020.03.10.986513. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.10.986513 (Microbial DNA extraction and sequencing)
Chewning, SS, Grant, DL, O’Banion, BS, Gates, AD, Kennedy, BJ, Campagna, SR, Lebeis, SL. Root-Associated Streptomyces Isolates Harboring MelC Genes Demonstrate Enhanced Plant Colonization. Phytobiomes Journal 2019, 3 (3), 165–176. https://doi.org/10.1094/PBIOMES-01-19-0005-R. (Enzyme tyrosinase assay for bacteria)
Perez, JJ, Chen, C-Y. Implementation of Normalized Retention Time (IRT) for Bottom-up Proteomic Analysis of the Aminoglycoside Phosphotransferase Enzyme Facilitating Method Distribution. Anal Bioanal Chem 2018 (Bacterial sample preparation and digest sample procedure for chromatography)
Geissler, M, Beauregard, JA, Charlebois, I, Isabel, S, Normandin, F, Voisin, B, Boissinot, M, Bergeron, M. G, Veres, T. Extraction of Nucleic Acids from Bacterial Spores Using Bead-Based Mechanical Lysis on a Plastic Chip. Eng. Life Sci. 2011, 11 (2), 174–181. https://doi.org/10.1002/elsc.201000132.(DNA extraction from bacterial spores using a plastic chip)
Jia, K, Li, L, Wang, Y, Yang, K, Chen, J. Interplays between Elastic Particles in an Ultrasonic Standing Wave. Appl. Phys. Express 2020, 13 (2), 027005. https://doi.org/10.35848/1882-0786/ab6ca5 (Dynamics of elastic particles in an ultrasonic standing wave)
Zielinski, BL, Allen, AE, Carpenter, E, Coles, VJ, Crump, BC, Doherty, MK, Foster, RA, Goés, JI, Gomes, HDR, Hood, RR, McCrow, JP, Montoya, JP, Moustafa, A, Satinsky, BM, Sharma, S, Smith, CB, Yager, PL, and Paul, JH. 2016. Patterns of transcript abundance of eukaryotic Biogeochemically-Relevant genes in the Amazon River Plume. PLOS ONE. 11: e0160929 (RNA extraction for eukaryotic metatranscriptomes)
