Bioscreen C Microbiology Reader User's Manual
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sample liquids.
The instrument can handle one or two 100-well Honeycomb microplates at a time. Each well of the microplate
can be considered as an individual test vessel. Thus monitoring the microbiological growth in 200
experiments can be performed simultaneously in a single run.
Honeycomb microplates are sterilized by gamma radiation, packed in individual bags and sold in boxes of
100 microplates each.
Honeycomb multiwell microplate technology positions 100 wells in a similar footprint as a 96-well microplate.
The microplate was designed to assure the best temperature distribution across the microplate, as well as to
eliminate evaporation and condensation, common problems with conventional 96-well microplates.
The unique incubator of Bioscreen C has liquid circulation which is cabable of cooling the samples below the
ambient temperature and ensures constant temperature to all wells. This is essential for developing high
quality growth curves.
3. OPERATION
3.1 Pre-Start Checklist
Check that the filter wheel is clean.
Check that there are no spills inside the instrument.
Check that there is enough heat transfer fluid.
Check that the desired incubating temperature is not more than 6 C below ambient.
Check that the cables are connected properly.
3.2 Planning an Experiment
3.2.1 Sample number
The instrument can handle one or two Honeycomb microplates at a time. There are 100 wells per microplate,
hence the total amount of samples can be 1-200 in a single run.
3.2.2 Sample volume
Growth medium to be used in an experiment must be in a liquid form. The maximum sample + growth
medium volume per well is 400 µl. Excess filling can cause flooding during shaking. There is no
recommended minimum volume, but with very small volumes evaporation can cause problems to the
experiment.
When choosing the sample volume, consider also possible behaviour of the sample during its incubation and
the entire experiment. If the microorganisms in the sample are supposed to create gas, make sure that you
don’t fill the wells too much. Flooding of the wells can cause damage to the parts underneath the incubator
tray.
3.2.3 Incubating temperature
The incubation temperature selection ranges from 1 to 60 C in steps of 0.1 C. The maximum temperature
of 60 C is reached when the incubator cover is 60 C and the incubator tray holding the samples has
reached 59 C. Bioscreen C can reach 6 C below and 30 C above ambient temperature (see Figure 4). If
lower temperatures are desired, the whole Bioscreen C must be placed in a cooled room.
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