Abstract: The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a method for preparing a sample for comprehensively and accurately analyzing gene expression in a single cell or a few cells, for example, by a large-scale DNA sequencer.

Abstract: To provide a means and a method of quickly sampling a tissue fragment from a plant tissue, quickly preserving a gene expression state within the tissue fragment, and comprehensively analyzing the gene expression state. The present invention relates to a method of sampling a plant tissue section, comprising: inserting a first gel layer into a needle; arranging a plant tissue on a second gel layer; and passing the needle through the plant tissue together with the second gel layer, and sampling a section of the plant tissue in the needle.

Abstract: Provided is a nucleic acid substrate which has nucleic acid substrate characteristics equivalent to those of dATP, has a low substrate specificity for luciferase, exerts no negative effect on enzymatic reactions such as a complementary-strand synthesis, and therefore is particularly suitable for the pyrosequencing method. As a nucleic acid substrate complementary to nucleotide T, a 7-substituted deoxyribonucleotide triphosphate whose 7-position of a purine group is modified by a substituent is used as a substitute for a nucleotide ?-thiotriphosphate analog.

Abstract: It is an object to provide a method of suitably analyzing the amount of gene expression of a single-cell. A method of detecting a nucleic acid comprising a step of sampling a single-cell from a sample containing at least a single-cell, a cell lysis step of lysing cell membrane of the sampled single-cell and extracting nucleic acids from the cell, a DNase treatment step of degrading DNA of the extracted nucleic acids with DNase, a step of hybridizing mRNA of the total RNA contained in the single-cell with oligo (dT) fixed onto a carrier, a step of performing reverse transcription of the mRNA hybridized with the oligo (dT) to fix cDNA derived from the single-cell onto the carrier, thereby preparing a single-cell derived cDNA library fixed onto a carrier, and a step of amplifying cDNA fixed onto the carrier and simultaneously detecting an amplification amount of the cDNA.

Abstract: It is intended to provide a novel convenient approach for DNA quantitative analysis that overcomes the disadvantages of conventional formulations. A standard DNA sample is prepared by introducing a single-base substitution into target DNA, and a predetermined amount thereof is mixed with a target DNA sample. The target and standard DNAs are amplified using the same primers designed to amplify a region comprising the single-base substitution site. To a hybridization product of a probe capable of binding to a site immediately before the single-base substitution site, ddATP, ddGTP, ddCTP, and ddTTP are sequentially added one by one to perform a complementary strand synthesis reaction. Luciferase reaction-induced luminescence derived from the formed pyrophosphoric acid is detected. The target DNA is quantitated from the amount of the detected luminescence and the amount of the added standard DNA sample.

Abstract: Provided is a nucleic acid substrate which has nucleic acid substrate characteristics equivalent to those of dATP, has a low substrate specificity for luciferase, exerts no negative effect on enzymatic reactions such as a complementary-strand synthesis, and therefore is particularly suitable for the pyrosequencing method. As a nucleic acid substrate complementary to nucleotide T, a 7-substituted deoxyribonucleotide triphosphate whose 7-position of a purine group is modified by a substituent is used as a substitute for a nucleotide ?-thiotriphosphate analog.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method and/or means for collecting and analyzing an individual cell in a tissue, and at the same time, quantitatively monitoring the expression levels of various genes while keeping two-dimensional information in the tissue. Specifically, the present invention provides a method comprising preparing a cDNA library from mRNA while keeping two-dimensional cellular distribution information and obtaining the gene expression levels at any site or all sites at a level of single cell. More specifically, the present invention provides a method comprising preparing a cDNA library in a sheet-form from mRNA while keeping two-dimensional cellular distribution information and repeatedly using the cDNA library in the detection of the gene expression, thereby allowing measurement of the expression distribution for a number of genes at a high accuracy.

Abstract: By the conventional technique for dispensing more than one reagents accurately, the system is complicated and thus a compact and inexpensive system is difficult to realize. In the present invention, the pressurized dispensing system utilizing a capillary is realized, and in addition, in order to reduce the leakage of reagents different from the reagent dispensed, by forming air layers at the tips of the capillaries after dispensing, a compact, simple, inexpensive analysis apparatus is realized.

Abstract: By the conventional technique for dispensing more than one reagents accurately, the system is complicated and thus a compact and inexpensive system is difficult to realize. In the present invention, the pressurized dispensing system utilizing a capillary is realized, and in addition, in order to reduce the leakage of reagents different from the reagent dispensed, by forming air layers at the tips of the capillaries after dispensing, a compact, simple, inexpensive analysis apparatus is realized.

Abstract: A chemiluminescence detecting apparatus includes a thing called a plate where many reaction chambers are one-dimensionally or two-dimensionally arranged, and enzymes packed in a gel and DNA-immobilized beads are simultaneously charged into the reaction chambers, thereby trapping a large amount of enzymes in the reaction chambers, improving enzyme activity and achieving high sensitive pyrosequencing.

Abstract: This invention relates to: the development of a mutant firefly luciferase in order to use dATP as a DNA polymerase substrate upon pyrosequencing, such luciferase being subjected to substrate specificity modification in a manner such that the dATP-induced activity alone is decreased while the ATP-induced activity is maintained; and a mutant firefly luciferase for which the proportion of activity induced by dATP to activity induced by ATP (dATP/ATP) is lower than that for the wild-type firefly luciferase, in which an amino acid identified based on homology analysis as corresponding with the 421st amino acid (glycine) of the amino acid sequence of the wild-type North American firefly (Photinus pyralis) luciferase has been substituted with a polar amino acid.

Abstract: The use of probe arrays in which probes of various biological substances such as DNA are immobilized on the surface of a solid is becoming established as an effective means for high-speed screening. Different kinds of probes, such as DNA, are immobilized on the surface of a multiple number of independently treatable fine particles, such as beads, instead of the surface of a single solid, and the resulting beads are aligned in a capillary or a cell in a designated order. The size of the area where one probe is immobilized is reduced. The bead probe array is characterized in that such small beads are aligned one by one in a designated manner using a sheet with holes, and one or a multiple number of beads are held in the holes and then transferred to a probe array holder such as a capillary.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method for producing a high-quality capillary tube used in an electrophoresis apparatus in a safe and inexpensive manner. A polymer coating on a capillary tube is converted into gas and removed through an oxidative reaction with oxygen radicals resulting from ozone decomposition, thereby providing tapered polymer coating. The material of the polymer may be polyimide.

Abstract: Accurate and sensitive sequencing in pyrosequencing is achieved by allowing complementary strand synthesis reaction to proceed homogeneously and completely in a short time while performing luminescence reaction for a sufficiently long time. DNA as a sequencing target is immobilized on the surface of a solid supporter. Nucleic acid substrates are injected from a dispenser to the supporter site where complementary strand synthesis is in turn performed rapidly and completely in a short time under a small reaction volume. Next, the supporter together with the product thereon is moved into a luminescence reaction solution where luminescence reaction is in turn performed. Thus, a DNA complementary strand synthesis reaction site and a luminescence reaction site are completely separated. The-supporter surface is also washed by dipping the supporter in the luminescence reaction solution that contains a luminescence reagent and an enzyme that degrades redundant nucleic acid substrates.

Abstract: This invention provides a nucleic acid amplification device whereby the abundance of a target molecule can be maintained before and after a step of separately amplifying a sample such that highly accurate analysis results that can be applied to gene expression analysis can be obtained. Also, a nucleic acid amplification device having a structure in which a plurality of minute reaction cells each comprising a set of a bead-retaining space capable of retaining a single analysis bead and a reagent reaction space retaining no bead but having a volume that is large enough to cause a reagent reaction therein are positioned so as to form a planar face is provided.

Abstract: It is intended to provide a novel convenient approach for DNA quantitative analysis that overcomes the disadvantages of conventional formulations. A standard DNA sample is prepared by introducing a single-base substitution into target DNA, and a predetermined amount thereof is mixed with a target DNA sample. The target and standard DNAs are amplified using the same primers designed to amplify a region comprising the single-base substitution site. To a hybridization product of a probe capable of binding to a site immediately before the single-base substitution site, ddATP, ddGTP, ddCTP, and ddTTP are sequentially added one by one to perform a complementary strand synthesis reaction. Luciferase reaction-induced luminescence derived from the formed pyrophosphoric acid is detected. The target DNA is quantitated from the amount of the detected luminescence and the amount of the added standard DNA sample.

Abstract: By the conventional technique for dispensing more than one reagents accurately, the system is complicated and thus a compact and inexpensive system is difficult to realize. In the present invention, the pressurized dispensing system utilizing a capillary is realized, and in addition, in order to reduce the leakage of reagents different from the reagent dispensed, by forming air layers at the tips of the capillaries after dispensing, a compact, simple, inexpensive analysis apparatus is realized.

Abstract: This invention relates to: the development of a mutant firefly luciferase in order to use dATP as a DNA polymerase substrate upon pyrosequencing, such luciferase being subjected to substrate specificity modification in a manner such that the dATP-induced activity alone is decreased while the ATP-induced activity is maintained; and a mutant firefly luciferase for which the proportion of activity induced by dATP to activity induced by ATP (dATP/ATP) is lower than that for the wild-type firefly luciferase, in which an amino acid identified based on homology analysis as corresponding with the 421st amino acid (glycine) of the amino acid sequence of the wild-type North American firefly (Photinus pyralis) luciferase has been substituted with a polar amino acid.

Abstract: The present invention aims to achieve both rapid supply of reagent substances to micro-chambers and inhibition of contamination from adjacent chambers. For achieving the above objects, the shape of a flow channel in a flow cell including a plate having micro-chambers is varied between the time of substance supply and the time of luminescence reaction.

Abstract: It is intended to provide a technique for amplifying, individually and in parallel, nucleic acids contained in a mixture of plural kinds of nucleic acid samples. The present invention provides a nucleic acid analysis method comprising amplification means, whereby amplification reaction is performed in a reaction solution comprising a homogeneous solvent and comprising at least plural template nucleic acids and solid phase carriers comprising one or more kinds of amplification probes immobilized on the surface, to prevent amplified products attributed to two or more template nucleic acids from being replicated in one solid phase carrier. According to the present invention, plural kinds of analyte nucleic acid samples in a mixed state can be amplified individually and in parallel. This method achieves one solid phase carrier-one nucleic acid. Therefore, a higher density of solid phase carriers with obtained amplified products is easily achieved, leading to improved throughput of amplified product analysis.