Editing Microplate (section)

{{Short description|Flat plate with multiple "wells" used as small test tubes}}
{{For|the geographical use|List of tectonic plates#Microplates}}

[[File:Microplates.jpg|thumb|300px|Microtiter plates with 96, 384 and 1536 wells]]

A  '''microplate''', also known as a '''microtiter plate''', '''microwell plate''' or '''multiwell''',<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.corporeality.net/museion/category/medical-scientific-instruments/ |title=Medical scientific instruments |access-date=2011-02-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110206181221/http://www.corporeality.net/museion/category/medical-scientific-instruments/ |archive-date=2011-02-06}}</ref> is a flat plate with multiple "wells" used as small test tubes.  The microplate has become a standard tool in analytical research and clinical diagnostic testing laboratories.  A very common usage is in the [[ELISA|enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay]] (ELISA), the basis of most modern medical diagnostic testing in humans and animals.

A microplate typically has 6, 12, 24, 48, 96, 384 or 1536 sample wells arranged in a 2:3 [[rectangle|rectangular]] [[Matrix (mathematics)|matrix]]. Some microplates have been manufactured with 3456 or 9600 wells, and an "array tape" product has been developed that provides a continuous strip of microplates embossed on a flexible plastic tape.<ref>{{cite news |author=Elaine May |title=Array Tape for Miniaturized Genotyping |url=http://www.genengnews.com/articles/chtitem.aspx?tid=2136 |work=[[Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News]] |publisher=Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. |page=22 |date=2007-06-15 |access-date=2008-07-06 |quote=(subtitle) Processing hundreds of microplate equivalents without complex plate-handling equipment |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224012516/http://www.genengnews.com/articles/chtitem.aspx?tid=2136<date>/url=http://www.genengnews.com/articles/chtitem.aspx?tid=2136 |archive-date=2009-02-24 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Each well of a microplate typically holds somewhere between tens of nanolitres<ref>{{Cite journal|title = High-density microwell chip for culture and analysis of stem cells|journal = PLOS ONE|date = 2009-01-01|issn = 1932-6203|pmc = 2736590|pmid = 19750008|pages = e6997|volume = 4|issue = 9|doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0006997|first1 = Sara|last1 = Lindström|first2 = Malin|last2 = Eriksson|first3 = Tandis|last3 = Vazin|first4 = Julia|last4 = Sandberg|first5 = Joakim|last5 = Lundeberg|first6 = Jonas|last6 = Frisén|first7 = Helene|last7 = Andersson-Svahn| bibcode=2009PLoSO...4.6997L |doi-access = free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title = Bacterial nanoscale cultures for phenotypic multiplexed antibiotic susceptibility testing|journal = Journal of Clinical Microbiology|date = 2014-09-01|issn = 1098-660X|pmc = 4313156|pmid = 24989602|pages = 3310–3317|volume = 52|issue = 9|doi = 10.1128/JCM.01161-14|first1 = Emilie|last1 = Weibull|first2 = Haris|last2 = Antypas|first3 = Peter|last3 = Kjäll|first4 = Annelie|last4 = Brauner|first5 = Helene|last5 = Andersson-Svahn|first6 = Agneta|last6 = Richter-Dahlfors}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title = Towards high-throughput single cell/clone cultivation and analysis|journal = Electrophoresis|date = 2008-03-01|issn = 0173-0835|pmid = 18288779|pages = 1219–1227|volume = 29|issue = 6|doi = 10.1002/elps.200700536|first1 = Sara|last1 = Lindström|first2 = Rolf|last2 = Larsson|first3 = Helene Andersson|last3 = Svahn|s2cid = 25258352}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Antypas|first1=H.|last2=Veses-Garcia|first2=M.|last3=Weibull|first3=E.|last4=Andersson-Svahn|first4=H.|last5=Richter-Dahlfors|first5=A.|date=2018|title=A universal platform for selection and high-resolution phenotypic screening of bacterial mutants using the nanowell slide|url=http://xlink.rsc.org/?DOI=C8LC00190A|journal=Lab on a Chip|language=en|doi=10.1039/c8lc00190a|issn=1473-0197|pmc=5996734|pmid=29781496|volume=18|issue=12|pages=1767–1777}}</ref> to several millilitres of liquid. They can also be used to store dry powder or as racks to support glass tube inserts. Wells can be either circular or square. For compound storage applications, square wells with close fitting silicone cap-mats are preferred. Microplates can be stored at low temperatures for long periods, may be heated to increase the rate of solvent evaporation from their wells and can even be heat-sealed with foil or clear film. Microplates with an embedded layer of filter material were developed in the early 1980s by several companies, and today, there are microplates for just about every application in life science research which involves filtration, separation, optical detection, storage, reaction mixing, cell culture and detection of antimicrobial activity.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Inglin|first1=Raffael C.|title=High-throughput screening assays for antibacterial and antifungal activities of Lactobacillus species|journal=Journal of Microbiological Methods|date=2015|volume=114|issue=July 2015|pages=26–29|doi=10.1016/j.mimet.2015.04.011|pmid=25937247}}</ref>

The enormous growth in studies of whole live cells has led to an entirely new range of microplate products which are "[[tissue culture]] treated" especially for this work. The surfaces of these products are modified using an oxygen [[Plasma (physics)|plasma]] discharge to make their surfaces more [[hydrophilic]] so that it becomes easier for [[adherent cell]]s to grow on the surface which would otherwise be strongly [[hydrophobic]].

[[File:BioMek FX P200 96 liquid handling robot.jpg|thumb|[[Liquid handling robot]] for 96 wells]]
A number of companies have developed [[robot]]s to specifically handle microplates. These robots may be liquid handlers which aspirate or dispense liquid samples from and to these plates, or "plate movers" which transport them between instruments, plate stackers which store microplates during these processes, plate hotels for longer-term storage, plate washers for processing plates, plate thermal sealers for applying heat seals, de-sealers for removing heat seals, or microplate incubators to ensure constant temperature during testing. Instrument companies have designed [[plate reader]]s which can detect specific biological, chemical or physical events in samples stored in these plates. A specialized [[plate reader]] has also been developed which can perform quality control of microplate well contents, capable of identifying empty wells, filled wells and precipitate.<ref name="pmid21609702">{{cite journal| author=Baillargeon P, Scampavia L, Einsteder R, Hodder P| title=Monitoring of HTS compound library quality via a high-resolution image acquisition and processing instrument. | journal=J Lab Autom | year= 2011 | volume= 16 | issue= 3 | pages= 197–203 | pmid=21609702 | doi=10.1016/j.jala.2011.02.004 | pmc=3417353}}</ref>