There are 3 simple steps to submit a sample to any of the Charles River Accugenix® laboratories for accurate, rapid microbial identifications and strain typing results.
Step 1. Sample Preparation
Depending on the testing service required, we have multiple options for preparing your samples.
|
Services & Technology |
AccuGENX-ID® |
AccuPRO-ID® |
AccuGENX-ST™ |
Strain Typing |
|
Live Culture |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
|
Alkaline Lysis DNA Extraction |
YES |
NO |
YES |
NO |
|
Dried Ethanol Prep |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
|
Liquid Ethanol Prep |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
|
DNA Extraction (Commercial System) |
YES |
NO |
YES |
NO |
Step 2. Complete the Identification Request Form (IRF) or go directly to our Accugenix® Customer Web Portal.
Step 3. Sample Shipment
Download our detailed sample preparation guides. Each method includes a “how to pack your sample(s) for shipment” section.
Important points to consider when submitting live cultures in broth:
-
A pure culture is required for identification and/or strain typing.
-
A mixture of organisms in a broth will require additional time for subculturing and delay results.
-
Include absorbent material inside the bag or container (e.g., paper towels or cotton gauze).
-
Please contact Charles River prior to sending liquid cultures should you have any questions.
Important points to consider when samples require subculturing:
-
Our laboratory stocks standard media including TSA, TSA with 5% sheep’s blood, R2A, SDA and PDA.
-
We are equipped to grow cultures aerobically and anaerobically.
-
Our incubators are set at 30 °C, 35 °C and 55 °C.
-
If you know that your sample requires growth conditions outside of these parameters, please discuss this with your Technical Support Specialist.
Precaution: Charles River cannot accept live organisms that must be handled in BSL-3- or higher-rated laboratories.
Sample Considerations
AccuPRO-ID®
-
Both temperature and time are critical factors that will affect results when shipping live cultures. Samples should not be exposed to or stored below Room Temperature (20-25 °C) at any time. The total time from sample inoculation to arrival at Charles River should not exceed 48 hours to ensure immediate processing. Live cultures exceeding 48 hours of age upon receipt may have to be subcultured, thereby delaying the requested turnaround time for results.
-
For your ethanol preparations, always use cultures that are 24-48 hours old. For slow-growing organisms, harvest as soon as there is visible growth.
-
Do not refrigerate the plates prior to the creation of ethanol preparations.
Live Cultures
-
Pure cultures are essential for microbial identification and strain typing.
-
DNA sequencing does not require a viable culture, nor is it dependent on growth conditions of the organism.
-
When submitting a plate with multiple organisms, well-isolated colonies are required.
-
The Identification Request Form provides check-off boxes for you to indicate when single or multiple colonies require identification(s). A comment section is available for specific instructions to assist our laboratory in processing your samples.