QIAseq FastSelect Epidemiology Kit (24)

QIAGEN's rRNA removal reagent provides an inline solution for preparing RNA-seq libraries from complex samples containing both host and microbial RNA. The workflow enables simultaneous depletion of human, mouse and rat cytoplasmic and mitochondrial ribosomal RNA alongside bacterial 5S, 16S and 23S rRNA, supporting dual-seq or host-pathogen studies. The pan-bacterial reagent was designed against a sequence database comprising nearly 600,000 16S entries, nearly 170,000 23S entries, and over 7,200 5S entries, with in-silico modeling predicting >95% rRNA removal of all known 5S, 16S and 23S rRNA sequences.

The simple procedure combines the FastSelect reagent with total RNA and fragmentation buffer, then cools the reaction stepwise from 75°C to 25°C over 14 minutes, followed by a bead-based cleanup. The full protocol takes approximately one hour and accommodates RNA inputs from 20 ng up to 1 µg, including low-quality, highly fragmented or high-quality full-length RNA. Because the method inhibits reverse transcription of rRNA rather than relying on enzymatic digestion or hybrid capture, it is compatible with challenging sample types such as formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue, whole blood, serum/plasma and exosomes, as well as single-species bacterial clones and complex meta-bacterial samples.

Reagents for bacterial and HMR rRNA removal are supplied in separate tubes, allowing users to optimize workflows for dual-seq, bacterial-only or HMR-only samples. The kit has been tested with stranded RNA-seq library kits from QIAGEN, Illumina, Roche/KAPA and NEB, and integrates with downstream data analysis through the GeneGlobe-integrated RNA-seq Analysis Portal.