MERCURIUS™

BRB-seq Kits
for cost-effective bulk
RNA-seq

Name: MERCURIUS™ BRB-seq Kit
Brand: Alithea Genomics
SKU: #10813, #11013, #10814, #11014
Availability: InStock

MERCURIUS™ BRB-seq is a bulk RNA-seq kit that enables scalable 3′ mRNA-seq from purified RNA, with early sample barcoding and multiplexing of up to 96 or 384 samples in a single tube.

Compatible with Illumina® and AVITI™ sequencers.

Discover Sample Datasets

Mammals, Plants, Insects, Fish

Bulk RNA sequencing at scale

BRB-seq as a flexible solution

One-day library prep workflow

For a variety of sample types

Product Overview

MERCURIUS™ BRB-seq is a bulk RNA-seq kit for researchers who need cost-effective gene expression profiling across many purified RNA samples. The workflow is designed for academic labs, core facilities, and research teams running studies with larger cohorts, multiple conditions, time points, tissues, species, or perturbations.

By combining early sample barcoding, unique molecular identifiers, and sample pooling, MERCURIUS™ BRB-seq reduces workflow complexity and makes scalable 3′ mRNA-seq practical for differential gene expression analysis, transcriptome profiling, and large experimental designs.

preps in a single tube

Up to 384

detected genes at
1.5M reads/sample

13,000 +

library prep workflow

Down to 1 day

Applications

Differential gene expression studies
Compare expression profiles across experimental conditions, treatments, genotypes, or time points.
Large-cohort RNA-seq projects
Profile purified RNA from tens to hundreds of samples using a scalable 3′ mRNA-seq workflow.
Time-course and dose-response experiments
Expand experimental designs without the cost and complexity of conventional bulk RNA-seq.
Multi-species transcriptomics
Support RNA-seq projects across eukaryotic samples, including mammalian, plant, insect, and fish RNA.
Core facility / RNA-seq service provider workflows
Process many user-submitted purified RNA samples with early multiplexing and simplified library preparation.
Cost-effective alternative to conventional bulk RNA-seq
Generate gene-level expression data when isoform, splicing, or fusion analysis is not required.

1. MERCURIUS™ BRB-seq Detects Comparable Numbers of Genes and Differentially Expressed Genes as Illumina TruSeq

Comparison of gene detection (left) and differential expression (right) between the same samples prepared with MERCURIUS™ BRB-seq or Illumina TruSeq. (Left) Both protocols detect equivalent numbers of genes across all expression thresholds at the same sequencing depth. (Right) Differential expression analysis yields comparable numbers of differentially expressed genes for both technologies. MERCURIUS™ BRB-seq achieves TruSeq-equivalent analytical performance at significantly higher throughput and lower cost per sample.

2. MERCURIUS™ BRB-seq Delivers Consistent, High-Sensitivity Gene Detection Across 384 Samples

Number of genes detected per sample across a 384-sample BRB-seq run, stratified by expression level. Across all 384 samples, an average of ~13,000 genes is detected when sequenced at a depth of 1.5M reads/sample. The uniformity of gene detection across all samples demonstrates the reproducibility and scalability of MERCURIUS™ BRB-seq for high-throughput transcriptomic profiling.

3. MERCURIUS™ BRB-seq Detects Comparable Numbers of Genes as Leading Commercial Platforms Across All Expression Levels

Average number of genes detected per expression category in non-differentiated (ND) and differentiated (D) adipose stromal population cells, comparing MERCURIUS™ BRB-seq against two commercial competitor kits. Genes are stratified into lowly expressed (0 < CPM < 10), mid-expressed (10 < CPM < 100), and highly expressed (CPM > 100) categories. All replicates were prepared from the same RNA sample and sequenced at a uniform depth of 3 million reads per sample. MERCURIUS™ BRB-seq performs comparably to both competitors across all expression levels and cell states.

4. MERCURIUS™ BRB-seq has High Correlation with Leading Commercial Platforms in Both Undifferentiated and Differentiated Cell States

Transcriptome-wide Pearson correlation matrices of mapped reads comparing MERCURIUS™ BRB-seq against Competitor L and Competitor N in non-differentiated adipose stromal Population cells (ND, left) and differentiated adipocytes (D, right). MERCURIUS™ BRB-seq achieves Pearson correlation coefficients of r ≥ 0.97 against both competitors in both cell states, comparable to the inter-competitor correlation (r = 0.95–0.96), demonstrating that MERCURIUS™ BRB-seq produces highly concordant gene expression profiles regardless of biological condition.

5. MERCURIUS™ BRB-seq Identifies More Differentially Expressed Genes Than Competitor Platforms Across All Significance Thresholds

Number of up and downregulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) detected by MERCURIUS™ BRB-seq, Competitor L, and Competitor N as a function of FDR-adjusted p-value threshold, comparing non-differentiated adipose stromal population cells to differentiated adipocytes at 3M reads/sample on the same initial RNA. MERCURIUS™ BRB-seq consistently identifies more DEGs than both competitors across the full range of significance thresholds, suggesting greater sensitivity for capturing the full transcriptional response to differentiation.