McMaster University is home to the Farncombe Family Axenic-Gnotobiotic Facility, a state-of-the-art gnotobiotic research facility with axenic embryo transfer capabilities, operating since 2007. This 3,000-square-foot laboratory provides a controlled, germ-free environment in which to study host-microbial interactions. In addition to generating and housing gnotobiotic animals on prescribed genetic backgrounds for internal and external clients, the Facility is unique in that it has the capacity and infrastructure to enable the performance of long-term experimentation under controlled environmental conditions in diverse areas of biomedical sciences.

What we offer

• Sterility and a strictly controlled bacterial environment for the study of host-microbial interactions in the gut
• Axenic (germ-free) mice which can be purchased from the Facility or housed in the Facility in germ-free status for a per diem rate

We can help you

• Purchase germ free mice
• Re-derivate a mouse strain in germ-free conditions
• Obtain tissues and ship to your facility

How we do it

• Axenic (germ-free) mice obtained by two-stage embryo transfer (ET)
• Axenic breeding and limited microbiota breeding (ASF, oligoMM)
• Facility equipped with recently renewed flexible film gnotobiotic isolators as well ISO Cage Positive isolators
• Specific experimental facilities (e.g. animal behavior isolator), sterile procedure rooms, as well as Level 2 biohazard housing and procedure area available

Contact us:

Dr. Heather Galipeau, Assistant Director - Email: galipehj@mcmaster.ca

Dr. Elena Verdu, Director - Email: verdue@mcmaster.ca

This state of the art sequencing facility is located within the Farncombe institute. Next generation sequencing technology includes Illumina HiSeq 1500, and MiSeq sequencers, and a Roche 454 pyrosequencer. The facility also has access to Ion PGM and Ion Proton sequencers. Standard ABI Sanger sequencing is also provided. This technology is support by an expert staff with experience in library construction for genomics, metagenomics and RNA transcriptomics, as well as amplicon sequencing for microbiome profiling. The facility also provides nCounter Nanostring services for targeted transcriptional profiling of diverse biological samples. The facility also offers fee for service bioinformatics support.

What we offer

• Full range of DNA sequencing technologies
• We can sequence your prepared libraries or we can provide full service library construction, sequencing and analysis*
• Preliminary microbiome analysis and genome assemblies
• The facility has extensive experience with 16S bacterial profiling, genomics, metagenomics, transcriptomics, metatranscriptomics

*The facility only processes nucleic acids samples, if you require nucleic acid extractions of your samples, this service can be provided through the Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Microbiome Research

We can help you

• Expert advice in design of microbiome and other sequencing projects, recommend sequencing strategies and protocols

Contact us:

Christine King, Manager - Email: kingc@mcmaster.ca

Dr. Michael Surette, Director - Email: surette@mcmaster.ca