title: Improved genome sequencing using an engineered transposase.
abstract: Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has transformed genomic research by reducing turnaround time and cost. However, no major breakthrough has been made in the upstream library preparation methods until the transposase-based Nextera method was invented. Nextera combines DNA fragmentation and barcoding in a single tube reaction and therefore enables a very fast workflow to sequencing-ready DNA libraries within a couple of hours. When compared to the traditional ligation-based methods, transposed-based Nextera has a slight insertion bias.
  
  
  
  Here we present the discovery of a mutant transposase (Tn5-059) with a lowered GC insertion bias through protein engineering. We demonstrate Tn5-059 reduces AT dropout and increases uniformity of genome coverage in both bacterial genomes and human genome. We also observe higher library diversity generated by Tn5-059 when compared to Nextera v2 for human exomes, which leads to less sequencing and lower cost per genome. In addition, when used for human exomes, Tn5-059 delivers consistent library insert size over a range of input DNA, allowing up to a tenfold variance from the 50 ng input recommendation.
  
  
  
  Enhanced DNA input tolerance of Tn5-059 can translate to flexibility and robustness of workflow. DNA input tolerance together with superior uniformity of coverage and lower AT dropouts extend the applications of transposase based library preps. We discuss possible mechanisms of improvements in Tn5-059, and potential advantages of using the new mutant in varieties of applications including microbiome sequencing and chromatin profiling.
authors.affiliation: Department of Protein Engineering, Illumina Inc, 5200 Illumina Way, San Diego, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Amirali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kia
authors.affiliation: NEO New Oncology GmbH, Gottfried-Hagen-Str. 20, Cologne, 51105, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gloeckner
authors.affiliation: Department of Protein Engineering, Illumina Inc, 5200 Illumina Way, San Diego, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Trina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Osothprarop
authors.affiliation: Technology Development, Illumina Inc, Little Chesterford, Nr Saffron Walden, Essex, CB10 1XL, UK.
authors.forename: Niall
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gormley
authors.affiliation: Department of Protein Engineering, Illumina Inc, 5200 Illumina Way, San Diego, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bomati
authors.affiliation: Department of Protein Engineering, Illumina Inc, 5200 Illumina Way, San Diego, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stephenson
authors.affiliation: Illumina Inc, 5602 Research Park Blvd., Suite 200, Madison, WI, USA.
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Goryshin
authors.affiliation: Department of Protein Engineering, Illumina Inc, 5200 Illumina Way, San Diego, CA, USA. mhe@illumina.com.
authors.forename: Molly Min
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: He
mesh_terms: D020856:AT Rich Sequence / Q000235:genetics; D002874:Chromosome Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics*; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing / Q000379:methods*; D015202:Protein Engineering; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000379:methods*; D019895:Transposases / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004247:DNA; D019895:Transposases