Products
and Services
Products
Assay Development
Agave BioSystems develops assays for a variety of formats
and platforms. Flow
cytometry assays developed can be used with both conventional
dyes and quantum dots. In house development of Luminex-based assays
is also conducted. We
have also developed dipstick assays for Leishmania detection and branch DNA assays for detection of Cryptosporidium parvum, among others.
Bioluminescent Systems
Agave BioSystems has developed bioluminescent systems providing
a blue, yellow-green, or red light source in a biodegradable
system. In one application
we have engineered yeast to produce the enzyme luciferase.
These cells have been packaged in cellulose bags to
be used as a portable and totally biodegradable light source.
We have also developed
a sprayable light format which forms a bioluminescent gel
layer for applications such as landing zone marking. The bioluminescent yeast can be incorporated
into any number of formats required by the customer.
Electric Cell-Substrate Impedance
Biosensors and Monitoring Systems
Agave BioSystems' ECIS biosensor has been shown effective
in the detection of a wide variety of chemical toxins independent
of mechanism of action. Instruments
and protocols are available for water testing.
A field portable air monitoring system is currently
under development. Our water and air monitoring systems utilize
electronics and software developed in collaboration with Applied
Biophysics.
Microfluidic Flow Cytometer
A simple microscope-mounted flow cytometry instrument may
be used for a wide variety of research applications. Optics, light source, and fluorescence detection
mount on the microscope optics head. Electronics and data
transfer connects are in a separate enclosure.
Data output is in FACS2 which is the common format
of most commercial flow cytometry software.
These instruments offer an inexpensive alternative
to conventional flow cytometers.
Organophosphate
Degradation
Agave BioSystems has implemented advanced microbiology and
molecular biology techniques to develop bacterial strains
with enhanced organophosphate degradation capabilities through
production of organophosphate hydrolase (OPH). The common
soil bacterium B. megaterium has been genetically engineered
to surface express this enzyme. Purified OPH and bacterial cells expressing
OPH are available.
S3P and EPSP Enzyme Substrates
Agave BioSystems offers the following substrates for the analysis
of shikimate pathway enzymes.
| S3P(shikimate-3-phosphate) |
|
S3P is converted to EPSP by EPSP
synthase, the penultimate enzyme of the shikimate pathway.
Shikimate-3-phosphate
(S3P) |
Phosphoenolpyruvate
(PEP) |
5-enolypyruvyl-3-shikimate
phosphate
(EPSP) |
Conversion
of S3P to EPSP |
| EPSP (5-enolypyruvyl-3-shikimate
phosphate) |
|
EPSP is converted to chorismate
by chorismate synthase, the last enzyme of the shikimate pathway.
Conversion
of S3P to EPSP |
S-Layers (bacterial cell wall surface layers)
Bacterial S-layer proteins can be used to develop novel structures
with pores regularly spaced nanometers apart. Agave BioSystems has developed a catalog
available for various research applications.
A significant lead time may be required when ordering.
Download
Catalog as PDF  (RIght
Click > Save As)
Services
Biology
- Assay
development:
o Conventional
flow cytometry
o Luminex
flow cytometry
o Quantum
dot conjugation
o
Dipstick
o
Branch DNA assay development
- Eukaryotic
and prokaryotic gene isolation and cloning
- Heterologous protein expression
and isolation using bacterial, yeast, insect and mammalian
expression systems
- Protein and antibody engineering
- Conjugation of biological macromolecules
to a variety of organic and inorganic substrates
- Pathogen detection by antibody
and nucleic acid based approaches
- Development of fluorescent, chemiluminescent
and other optical based detection platforms
- S-layer templated surfaces for
various research applications in nano technology
Engineering
- Electrical, mechanical and
optical instrument development
- Microfluidic device fabrication
(via PDMS, mold making, etc.)
- Microscopy and Microanalysis (including
electron microscopy [TEM, FESEM], atomic force microscopy
[AFM], fluorescence microscopy, optical microscopy)
- Lithography
- Dry and chemical etching (includes
Reactive ion etching, wet chemical etching, ion milling,
etc.)
- Thin film (plasma vapor) deposition
(sputtering, thermal and e-beam evaporation)
- Metrology (including surface profilometry,
ellipsometry, etc.)
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