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Related Experiment Videos

Application of robotics and image processing to automated colony picking and arraying.

D C Uber1, J M Jaklevic, E H Theil

  • 1Human Genome Center, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley 94720.

Biotechniques
|November 1, 1991
PubMed
Summary

This study introduces an automated system using image processing and robotics for picking microbial colonies from petri dishes and arranging them into microtiter plates. This robotic colony picker significantly speeds up high-throughput screening and genomic library manipulation.

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Area of Science:

  • Biotechnology
  • Robotics
  • Bioinformatics

Background:

  • High-throughput screening of microbial libraries is crucial for biological research.
  • Manual colony picking is labor-intensive and prone to errors.
  • Automating colony manipulation enhances efficiency and reproducibility.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop and validate an automated system for picking individual microbial colonies from square petri dishes.
  • To array these colonies into 96-well microtiter plates for downstream applications.
  • To improve the speed and accuracy of microbial library processing.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized digital imaging (video camera, frame buffer) to capture colony distribution.
  • Employed commercial image processing software for colony identification and localization.

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  • Integrated a Hewlett-Packard Microassay System robot for automated colony picking and transfer.
  • Developed custom holders for accurate dish positioning and common coordinate systems.
  • Implemented a disposable pipet tip for sterile colony manipulation.
  • Calibrated the system for agar depth variations in petri dishes.

    • Main Results:

    • The system successfully arrays microbial colonies into 96-well plates.
    • Processed up to 10 dishes and 20 plates (1920 colonies) per run.
    • Automated the arraying of a 6000-colony S. pombe cosmid library in approximately 40 robot hours.
    • Demonstrated high throughput and efficiency in colony manipulation.

    Conclusions:

    • The developed automated system significantly enhances the efficiency of microbial colony arraying.
    • This technology is valuable for large-scale genomic library processing and high-throughput screening.
    • Future system enhancements are anticipated to further improve capabilities.