Micro-Flask _{by Duetz}

• An integrated, easy-to-use, and cost-effective technology platform for the rapid handling and growth of large numbers of microbial strains, clonal libraries, mutant banks, and cell lines in 24 or 96-well microtiter plates.

• The system enables a single person to grow and test thousands of strains simultaneously with a minimum of repetitive handlings: all handling is performed in parallel for sets of 24 or 96 strains.

• Numerous users have reported time-savings of more than a factor 10.

• Same quality of growth as in Erlenmeyer flasks in terms of oxygen transfer rates and reproducibility: See it for yourself; view the technical data, photos and movies showing the hydrodynamics inside the wells during orbital shaking.

• Sandwich covers are now available for:

- 24 square deepwell plates (2.5 - 4 ml cultures)
- 96 square deepwell plates (0.5 - 1 ml cultures)
- 24 round lowwell plates (0.75-1.5 ml cultures)
- 96 round lowwell plates (0.1 - 0.2 ml cultures)

Application areas:

• Discovery: high-throughput screening for new enzyme activities or formation of secondary metabolites (heterogeneous culture collections)
• Screening and distribution of clone libraries in E. coli or yeasts
• High-throughput screening for high-activity or high-productivity mutants
• Comparative studies e.g. clinical isolates
• Growth medium optimization studies

The system has been extensively tested and validated for a range of bacterial strains and streptomycetes (see literature for details). For use for yeasts and fungi, please contact us.



Main components:

• Sandwich covers convert all wells of microtiter plates into individual "mini-reactors" suitable for high-frequency orbital shaking, at high oxygen transfer rates, and without well-to-well variations.

• Cover clamps ensure that the deepwell plate and its sandwich cover are clamped together tightly, thereby preventing well-to-well contamination

Measuring in theMicroFlask

• The SDR SensorDish Reader^®is a small 24-channel reader for non-invasive detection of oxygen and pH in multidishes (SensorDishes). These contain a sensor spot at the bottom of each well. They are read out non-invasively through the transparent bottom. SensorDishes for oxygen (OxoDish^®) and pH (HydroDish^®) are available in the 24-well and 6-well format. The SensorDish Reader^®can be used in incubators and on shakers and is thus the ideal tool for monitoring cultivations in combination with the MicroFlask system.

The cryo-replicator

• The cryo-replicator*: a precision spring-loaded device for the simultaneous and reproducible sampling of 96 frozen glycerol stocks. With the CRYO-REPLICATOR culture stocks remain viable for years because they can remain frozen.

• The cryo-replicator press is a guiding system ensuring accuracy during the replication of sets of strains

* EP1192438

General procedure used to generate living suspended cultures, starting from a master-plate with 96 individual strains stored at - 80 ºC in the presence of 15% (v/v) glycerol