Miniaturization of the KASP™ Genotyping Assay for Maize with the Echo® 525 Liquid Handler

Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping of maize samples is commonly performed in agricultural science to aide marker assisted selection, study heterosis and a variety of other biological behaviors. Its widespread adoption in agricultural science has been challenged with increasing reagent costs and labor intensive multi-step processes. Acoustic non-contact liquid handling using the Echo 525 liquid handler offers unique advantages to traditional processes by incorporating a tip-less solution to deliver reagents precisely and accurately. Assay miniaturization is enabled with high accuracy and precision at volumes as low as 25 nL. This study utilized the Echo 525 liquid handler to miniaturize a KASP genotyping assay for maize at a throughput meeting the demands of most high throughput production processes. The results demonstrate miniaturization with the Echo 525 liquid handler without compromising throughput targets.