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FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions |
General information about the VDRC RNAi lines
All of our lines are balanced. Lines either homozygous lethal or sterile are kept over the balancers (CyO for the 2nd chromosome; TM3, Sb for the 3rd chromosome). Stocks that are viable have been made homozygous.
Sterile lines are kept over the balancers. In these stocks there are both homozygous (these flies are sterile) and heterozygous flies for the UAS-IR insertion (over the CyO or TM3). For your RNAi experiments please use flies over the balancers and screen the progeny against the balancer.
Lethal lines are kept over the balancers. In these lines all the flies are either over the CyO or TM3,Sb balancer depending on the insertion chromosome. In these stocks homozygous flies (no balancer) survive rarely.
The red eye color - marks the successful insertion of the UAS-IR in the genome. As long as you do not find a fly with white eyes, you can be sure that there is no contamination in the stock. The eye color can vary from dark red to very light red. Even in the same stock the eye color can vary.
Insertions on the 1st chromosome are not balanced, and we keep these strains by crossing the RNAi males to X-compound virgins. In this case only the males have red eyes, never the females. Since these virgins (C(1)DX / winscy, hs-hid) are rather weak, we suggest adding fresh virgins every time you flip the RNAi stock on fresh food to ensure survival of the line. Or even better, balance the line with the 1st chromosome balancer. You can get a stock of (C(1)DX / winscy, hs-hid) in the other stock section (Stock Number 60006).
All the UAS-IR insertion sites are mapped only to the chromosome (1, 2 or 3). We do not have data on specific location on the chromosome.
The phenotype (viable, lethal, sterile) we refer in our database for every line, it is due to the insertion site of the UAS-IR, not due the induction with the Gal4.
RNAi Lines And Other Stocks
1A:
The library comprises 22,247 transgenic Drosophila strains which means 12,251 genes, or 88.2% of the Drosophila genome.
2A:
You should use isogenics host strain w1118, we have injected the library into.
3A:
We refer to the phenotype due to the insertion site on the chromosome.to.
4A:
These are the stocks which have been used for creation of the library and also lines which are helpful to trigger RNAi e.g. dicer2.
5A:
Yes, you can find them by clicking ’Browse the Other Stocks’ button on our main page. Since January, 2008 you can also obtain these
stocks from the Bloomington Stock Collection.
6A:
Temporary unavailable stocks are probably sick and being treated in hospital. Usually it takes 3-5 weeks
until we can release them back and are ready to be ordered.
7A:
Your lines are insertions on the X chromosome. These lines are not balanced and we keep them by crossing the RNAi males to the X compound virgins.
8A:
As we have only one copy of the library we do loose RNAi lines occasionally.
Shipment
10A:
Our library is on a 5 weeks flipping schedule (1/5 of the library per week is flipped).
We need at least 5 weeks to find all requested lines and one additional week to bring them into shippable conditions.
Orders with more than 150 lines will be split and delivered in two or more shipments. Please do not forget to send enough shipping labels (users from USA).
11A:
E.g. The shipment fees for 30-40 lines to the USA would be around € 60-70. Please contact your local delivery service for detailed information
about shipping costs and see the link on VDRC website.
12A:
In Europe the package is delivered within 2 working days. Shipments outside of Europe usually take few days longer e.g. Japan 2-3 days,
USA/Australia up to one week.
13Q:
If you notify us within one week we will resend the lines but you will have to pay the shipping costs.
14A:
Some countries (e.g. USA, Australia, China) require a valid permit for importing transgenic Drosophila. In the USA, you need
a permit and a shipping label of the USDA for every shipment. You can apply for these labels at the USDA.
Please check the following link for detailed information:
http://flystocks.bio.indiana.edu/Regulatory/import.htm
If you are located in Australia, please apply at the AQUIS (Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service) for an import license and
send a copy of the confirmed permission to us.
For importing lines into China, we need a permission for which you can apply for at the ’Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine’
Some other countries may also require permissions for importing transgenic Drosophila. Please check your local importing terms.
Please double-check the validation of the import permission. The VDRC will not replace lines which have been refused at the customs because of missing or
expired importing documents.
15A:
If you ordered more than 100 lines you will need to send us one more USDA shipping label (one shipping label per 100 lines) .
16A:
No, please don’t worry. According to the import rules of the USA, all packages must be directed to the USDA inspection station,
addressed on the shipping label and cannot be sent directly to you. Your package will be cleared there and forwarded to you.
17A:
It is not recommended that you borrow and send a shipping label from a colleague, because this might cause confusion at the customs (or import regulation
agency) and result in a massive delivery delay. In this case the VDRC will not replace lines which did not survive the shipment.
18A:
We have a long and good experience with these courier services and
also most of the researchers have their own accounts set up with them.
19A:
After we shipped the flies we will send you the tracking number by e-mail.
20A:
No, VDRC will provide you with an e-mail notification and the tracking number of the package the day the lines are shipped,
but we cannot phone the customs, USDA or change the shipping address after the package has been sent off.
21A:
Yes, but only if they have been placed in the same week and if they don’t exceed more than 100 lines in total.
Orders
22A:
It takes around 2 working days upon arrival of your signed MTA.
23A:
It could be due to the following reasons: (1) MTA did not arrive. (2) The signatures are not valid. The MTA needs to be signed by a legal representative
from your institution. (3) You forgot to write the VDRC user name on the MTA and we cannot identify you.
Please send an email to office@vdrc.at if your account is not active after 3 working days.
24A:
Yes, please login into your account and click on the button ’Order History’ placed in the upper right corner on
the main page.
25A:
As long as you send all necessary documents (import permits, shipping labels,..) there is usually no problem.
Your order is still in progress and due to our flipping schedule it takes up to six weeks until your order is ready to ship.
Please check the ’Order History’ on the VDRC website.
26A:
Unfortunately we cannot modify an existing order. Within 24h you can cancel the order with full refund and place another order with additional
(or less) lines. You can also place another order (only within the same week) and send us an email saying to combine the shipment of both orders .
This is possible as long as the orders don’t exceed the limit of 100 lines in total.
27A:
Unfortunately we cannot modify an existing order.
28A:
It all depends on how the lines you have ordered are distributed in our library which is on 5 week flipping schedule.
On every week we can collect the lines only from 1/5 of our collection.
29A:
Yes, you can upload a list of CG numbers or a list of transformant IDs on the main page in the ’file upload box’.
30A:
Our website doesn’t offer a shopping cart management, but we recommend to store the transformant ID
of the desired lines in a list and to upload the list at a later date.
31A:
At this stage we are not set up to send DNA constructs.
32A:
Yes, we accept sigend MTAs sent by e-mail.
33A:
Sorry, but we cannot place an order for you. You have to do it yourself using the VDRC website.
34A:
Yes of course, after placing the order, please send us an email and notify us about it. As soon as your order is ready to ship, we will
contact you and make an appointment for picking up the lines.
Payment
35A:
We have a new price system since February 2009 which is very attractive for large orders.
Please see our payment conditions.
36A:
We have no possibilties to get detailed information about user transactions from financial institutes due to security reasons.
Therefore we recommend you to try again later and if it does not work to check with your bank.
37A:
Your credit card is activated with the ’Verified by Visa’ service which improves the security of online payment transactions.
Therefore you need a password to verify your credit card transactions. Please contact your bank.
38A:
Sorry, but at this time we can only accept payment by credit card due to lack of capacity to process the bills.
39A:
The Value Added Tax, or VAT, in the European Union is a general, broadly based consumption tax assessed on the value added to goods and services. Every European Institution needs a VAT number for tax purposes.
40A:
Yes of course, you will get full refund for all the lines we could not deliver.
You will get notified about it and your credit card will be automatically refunded.
