FAQ: For EM-seq™ workflows, what are the recommendations for fragmenting already-fragmented DNA, low integrity DNA and/or FFPE DNA with NEBNext UltraShear™?

If working with already fragmented, low integrity and/or FFPE DNA upstream of EM-seq library preparation (Section 3 of NEBNext UltraShear manual), for Step 3.1.6. we suggest fragmenting with NEBNext UltraShear for less time (5-15 minutes at 37˚C; optimizations may be needed). Additionally, we suggest performing 0.9X sample purification bead cleanups after Deamination of Cytosines (Step 3.9.2.) and after PCR Amplification (Step 3.11.3). Please note that we do not recommend a stringent sample purification bead cleanup (e.g., 0.65X) for already fragmented, low integrity and/or FFPE DNA samples.