Project Abstract
The University of Illinois (UI) Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (VDL) is a full service, AAVLD accredited, all
species, reference veterinary diagnostic laboratory. As a member of the VET-LIRN, UI VDL is one of the labs
actively involved in several VET-LIRN activities including iSeq-sequencing Listeria project as a lead lab,
providing isolates for MiSeq WGS sequencing project as a source lab, participation on antimicrobial resistance
pilot project, and evaluation of automatic nucleic acid extraction methods as a lead lab. Molecular testing process
usually takes couple hours or more to get the results out to clients. Therefore, ultrafast molecular equipment with
same sensitivities as commonly used molecular equipment is urgently needed and can significantly enhance
testing service efficiency in Vet-LIRN network laboratories. In this proposal, we request funding to purchase a 5-
minute superfast nucleic acid extractor Xtractor and a 5-minute real-time PCR machine XDive to enhance UI
VDL molecular service quality for testing animal diseases and routine case investigation and surveillance
coordinated by Vet-LIRN. This funding support is crucial for maintaining our capacity in molecular testing and
critical response to animal food/drug emergency or disease outbreak.