High-throughput and low-cost transcriptomics

Transcriptome analysis is widely used in research projects. By providing a comprehensive view of an organism’s gene activity, transcriptomics enables the exploration and identification of mechanisms underlying the observed phenotypes. This approach can be applied to any sample (tissue or species); however, its use is often limited to relatively simple experimental designs. There are likely two reasons for this. First, the vast amount of data generated requires complex and expert analysis. Some believe that artificial intelligence and neural networks can overcome this barrier, but these approaches require a high number of measures to identify explanatory and predictive structures among the tens of thousands of transcripts analyzed in each sample. Second, agroecological challenges require field analyses under much more complex and heterogeneous conditions (multiple species, multiple factors) than those found in laboratory settings. This again necessitates the analysis of a very large number of samples. To bring the power and sensitivity of transcriptomics to these major challenges, it must be made widely accessible and its costs drastically reduced. The POPS transcriptomic platform offers a high-throughput plant transcriptome screening service (several hundred samples per project) at a very low cost, thanks to BRB-Seq technology ((Bulk RNA barcoding and sequencing) that allows the reduction of reaction volumes and the automation of all steps (RNA extraction, library preparation, quantification, and multiplexing).

03/11/2025