Laboratory and equipment
Dr. Azcarate-Peril directs the Microbiome Core Facility (MCF) at UNC Chapel Hill, located in Isaac Taylor Hall
in the School of Medicine at UNC, conveniently close to UNC Hospitals, and the School of Dentistry. The MCF
is equipped to offer the following services: amplicon pyrosequencing, Terminal Restriction Fragment Length
Polymorphism (TRFLP) analysis, quantitative (q)-PCR, Clone Library Creation, Consulting and Research
Support, including sample genomic DNA isolation, plasmid and virus nucleic acids isolation, RNA isolation,
strain typing, optimization of bacterial culture conditions, and high-throughput liquid handling (PCR reaction set
up, sample pooling, picogreen quantification of nucleic acids).
The Core laboratory is composed of the main room (380 sq. feet), two additional laboratory rooms (with a
combined footage of approximately 200 sq. feet), and two offices in addition to Dr. Azcarate-Peril’s office (with
a combined footage of approximately 200 sq. feet). Available in the MCF are a Q-PCR machine (ABI), 5 PCR
machines (ABI), Universal BioRobot (Qiagen), 3130XL Genetic Analyzer (ABI), QpixColony Picker (Genetix),
WASP 2 Spiral plater and ProtoCol Colony Counter (Microbiology International), Infinite M200 Monochromator
Microplate reader (Tecan), NanoDrop (Thermo Scientific), 3 centrifuges (Eppendorf), shaker incubator
(Thermo Scientific), -80 Freezer (Thermo Scientific), -80 Freezer w/nitrogen backup (Thermo Scientific),
anaerobic chamber (Coy Laboratory products), imaging system (Fotodyne), laminar flow hood (Thermo
Scientific), glassware washing system (Miele), Gene pulser Xcell Total System (BioRad), Axio Observer
microscope (Zeiss), Tissuelyser II (Qiagen), Z1 Single Threshold Particle counter (Beckman-Coulter), 454
Genome Sequencer Titanium system (Roche). The Core also has the scientific and technical personnel who
are available for consultation in designing and optimizing experimental protocols.