Effectively replacing baffled shake flasks, the µ-Flask consists of a microtiter plate, a reusable, gas-permeable closure and a shaker-mounting clamp system.  Utilizing a unique filter and cover combination, µ-Flasks provide OTR’s equivalent to baffled Erlenmeyer flasks without the evaporative losses experienced with traditional sealing tapes.  Offered in configurations of 24 and 96 round or square-well plates, the µ-Flask’s working volumes range from 100uL to 4.0 ml per well. Unlike other well-plate systems, µ-Flasks are free of cross-contamination risks and offer highly reproducible results from well to well with no edge-effects.

As part of our 25th anniversary, Applikon Biotechnology Inc. will include a FREE Applikon Joe Bender* with each order of a µ-Flask clamp system!
*free Applikon Joe Benders available while supplies last.

• 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)

• The system was originally developped and validated at the Institute of Biotechnology of the ETH Zurich: read the key publication in Applied and Environmental Microbiology (Duetz et al. 2000, pdf-file [146 kb]).

• An introductory video (5 minutes) gives a quick impression of the main features of the system: low-resolution wmv-file, 160x120 (1.6 MB).

 
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

• 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