Firma:                   Genetix

Modell:                Qpix

Kommentar:        Dokumente engl .

Description concerns all Genetix Qpix – familiy products!

Applications

·        Colony picking from E.coli, yeast, phage, streptomyces, baculovirus, etc

·        Picking for direct sequencing using methods such as TempliPhi(tm)

·        Library management

·        Protein evolution

Benefits

• Single clones in every well
• Simple and 100% accurate management of libraries
• Flexibility to meet change; methods, workload and deadlines
• Guaranteed performance
• Strong return on investment

Efficient design means a second-to-none track record of reliability and performance

All Qpix systems use the same picking methods and principles

• Post incubation, agar trays or dishes are placed on an illuminated area inside the instrument.

• The trays are automatically imaged and the captured image analyzed to determine which colonies are to be picked.

• Colonies are detected on the basis of size, shape, color (blue/white), roundness and proximity to neighbors.

• The images are then reviewed, parameters adjusted and colonies selected or de-selected on an individual basis.

• The system cleans and sterilizes the picking head using a combination of washes, heat and UV light

• Individual colonies are then picked by automatically firing pins into identified colonies. Once all 96-, or a pre-specified number of pins have been fired, the colonies are simultaneously inoculated into a destination plate.
• The pins are then cleaned and the process repeated until the desired number of colonies has been picked

Picking a defined number of colonies from a tray – regional picking

Regional picking is a tool that enables the identification and picking of a defined number of clones from each Petri dish or from a region of divided QTray.
For instance it is possible to pick exactly four clones from each transformation. If there are only three pickable colonies then the fourth position associated with a potential colony can be left blank and this event recorded in the log file.
Used in conjunction with the divided QTray, regional picking eliminates many of the problems associated with dish handling and identification as 48 Petri dishes are effectively condensed into a single, easy to handle 22 cm tray.

Adding controls to each picked plate

The pin designation software module enables specific pins to be assigned to pick from a specific location or tray on the instrument bed. e.g. if pins A1, H1, A12 and H12 define picking from a Petri dish containing a control organism then every 96 well plate of picked colonies within the run would contain control colonies in each of the corners and unknowns in the other 92 wells.

Picking organisms other than E.coli

A key factor affecting success of colony picking is the amount of material transferred to the pin and then from the pin into the destination plate. The amount of material transferred is dependent upon the shape and nature of the pin surface.
Organism specific picking heads are available to ensure maximum viability and subsequent growth for each colony that is picked. On Genetix colony pickers, changing head type takes less than five minutes and does not require any tools.

Range of picking trays and dishes

The QPix systems can pick from 22cm BioAssay trays (QTrays), 15cm Petri dishes, 10cm Petri dishes, 9cm Petri dishes, Nunc Omnitrays or 6 well plates and pick into 96 and 384 well plates either in standard or deep well format.

100% accuracy in replication and re-arraying of plates

Replicating can be achieved in two ways, either using the re-arraying head or by using a gridding/replication tool. These fixed pin tools are available in both 96 and 384 pin ‘hedgehog’ configurations This enables the 96 pin tool to replicate from 96 wells to 96 wells in a single action, from a 384 to 384 in four actions.

The 384 pin tool can only be used with 384 well plates. Tools are easily interchangeable heads with pins of different geometries enabling the transfer of different volumes.
Re-arraying is achieved by use of a proprietary ‘cushioned head’ with 96 individually addressable pins. The cushioned 'head' has been designed to eliminate potential cross-contamination when a pin is retracted from a source well.
Easily interchangeable heads with pins of different profiles and geometries enables use of both shallow or deep well plates and different transfer volumes.

Gridding

The gridding function creates arrays of colonies or DNA onto membranes.
The source plates are held in stackers and the destination membranes are located on the bed of the robot. There is considerable flexibility in the combinations that can be used:

• Source plates can be 96 or 384 well plates
• Membranes can be 22x22cm laid on the robot 'filter blocks" or onto agar in QTrays. Multiple copies of an array can be made in the same gridding routine
• Gridding pins come in a range of diameters giving different spot sizes and allowing a range of array densities
• Gridding heads come in 96 and 384 pin formats
• The gridding software allows great flexibility in creating your own gridding patterns. Once a routine is created it can be saved and used for repeated runs of the same pattern