question about the fifth filter on the ABI sequencer

[Bruce Roe]

Francis Ouellette write: 
=> Dear autoseqs readers,
=> 
=> We are just about to purchase an ABI machine, and the issue of the 5th
=> filter has come up.  I was told by some, that we _had_ to get this new
=> feature for the ABI sequencer, but all the people that suggested to me
=> that we should get it failled to explain to me how it works and what
=> its function really is.  I heard that the people in St-Louis (C
=> elegans project) have this feature (Did they design it?) on their
=> Machines ... so maybe they would be best to explain it to the rest of
=> us.

Francis,
        Once ABI releases their new dye-labeled terminators for
Sequenase, those who wish to use them will have to obtain a new
filter wheel, among other things.  The St. Louis group was one
of the test sites for the Sequenase terminators and thus ABI
installed a new filter wheel, etc for them.
        The May 1993 issue of Nucleic Acids Research contains a paper
describing this:

 Lee-L-G.  Connell-C-R.  Woo-S-L.  Cheng-R-D.  McArdle-B-F.  Fuller-C-W.
   Halloran-N-D.  Wilson-R-K. DNA sequencing with dye-labeled terminators
   and T7 DNA polymerase: effect of dyes and dNTPs on incorporation of 
   dye-terminators and probability

	I don't know when the chemistry/hardware/software will be
made available to the rest of us but was told "before the end of this
year".  I also don't know what the cost of the hardware upgrade will
be.
Cheers......bruce