Microbial cultivation system (T1)
The Tecan liquid handling robot T1 is designed for handling microbial suspension cultures and colony picking. The integrated Kuhner ES-X shaker allows vigorous shaking (50mm shaking diameter, 300 rpm) of up to eight plates at controlled temperature (15-42°C) and humidity (max. 65% RH). Custom build 96-LED arrays, that can be inserted into the shaker, allow microplate based optogenetic experiments. Growth and fluorescence of cultures can be monitored using the integrated microplate reader. Counting and picking of microbial colonies from agar plates is facilitated by use of a light table and integrated camera. An additional on-deck incubator with 16 temperature controlled positions allows incubation of assay plates. The possibility to exchange plates with the robotic system T0 enables the automation of highly complex workflows.