Clear microplates
- Usage: Colorimetric Measurements
MICROPLATES FOR HIGH-THROUGHPUT SCREENING (HTS)
Greiner Bio-One offers a comprehensive portfolio of microplates for high-throughput screening. The plates differ in format, design, base material, color, surface properties abd bottom configuration. Our microplates for high-throughput screening are available with 96, 384 or 1536 well, in the colors black, white and clear. The microplates are made of high-quality materials and are used in basic science, biotechnology and pharmaceutical drug development.
Are you looking for cell culture microplates? Here you can find our portfolio for cell-based HTS assays.
Sub Categories
Microplate materials
Polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS) are the standard materials used to manufacture the majority of microplates.
Polystyrene is a highly clear polymer with excellent optical properties which makes it ideal for precise optical measurements. Polystyrene is also characterised by its ability to bind biomolecules, such as proteins, and it is therefore often used for manufacturing immunological products. Polystyrene is also suitable for work with cell cultures.
Polypropylene is characterised by its excellent chemical and thermal stability. It is the ideal polymer for storage of active reagents, patient samples or biomolecules in microplates.
In addition, Greiner Bio-One manufactures microplates with special requirement profiles, such as the UV-Star® or SCREENSTAR microplates made from different cycloolefins. They are characterised by their low level of autofluorescence, exceptionally high clarity, especially in the UV range, and greater chemical stability when compared with polystyrene.
Our wide range of microplates
µClear® and UV-Star® Film Bottom Microplates
The development of a new and patented processing technique has made it possible for us to produce microplates with ultra-thin films, without the use of adhesives or solvents – the µClear® and UV-Star® products. This special method eradicates the risk of leaking wells.
SensoPlate Glass Bottom Microplates
SensoPlate glass bottom microplates consist of a black pigmented polystyrene frame on to which a 175 μm thick borosilicate glass bottom is bonded. Thanks to the high optical quality of the glass bottom as well as the minimal bending, SensoPlate are especially recommended for fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and sophisticated microscopic applications.
Non-binding surfaces
Non-binding surfaces from Greiner Bio-One are characterised by their low binding capacity for biomolecules such as DNA, RNA, peptides and proteins. The repellent property of the non-binding surfaces for biomolecules can be advantageous in biochemical assays by increasing the sensitivity, reducing the background and improving the signal-to-noise ratio.
Achieved through a chemical modification of the resin rather than a resin mixture with potential to leach, the non-binding surface from Greiner Bio-One is stable under common assay conditions and does not degrade during short-term storage.
Lids for Microplates
Four different polystyrene lid designs are available:
- High profile lids
- High profile lids with condensation rings
- Low profile lids
- Ultra low profile lids
Lids are available in two options, sterile and non-sterile. If microplates are supplied with lids, as in the case of CELLSTAR® products, the 96 well microplates always include lids with a high profile and the 384 well microplates always include plate lids with a low profile. In addition all products are also available without lids, which means that the type of lid can be selected as required.
Black, white or clear microplates?
Black pigmented microplates are commonly used for fluorescence applications, whereas white pigmented microplates typically support luminescence measurements, and are sometimes used to enhance fluorescence signal intensity. Both pigmentations help overcome critical issues for these techniques, such as background, autofluorescence, and well-to-well crosstalk. Pigmentation does not impact the material or surface chemistry, and black or white polystyrene microplates are available with different surface properties. Polypropylene microplates are as well available with black and white pigmentation and offer lower biomolecule binding and higher thermal and chemical resistance than polystyrene.
Black microplates
- Usage: Fluorescence measurements
- Top reading: Black microplates with solid bottom
- Bottom reading & microscopy: Black microplates with transparent film bottom
White microplates
- Usage: For luminescence measurements
- Top reading: White microplates with solid bottom
- Bottom reading & microscopy: White microplates with transparent film bottom
FAQs about Microplates for High-Throughput Screening
What is the advantage of a µClear® plate over a standard polystyrene plate?
The µClear® microplates are clear bottom microplates with a thin polystyrene film bottom (190 µm +/- 20 µm for a 96 and 384 well formats and 75 µm +/- 10 µm for the 1536 well format).
Commonly µClear® microplates are used in cell based assays as they allow the microscopic monitoring of the cell growth. Additionally µlear® microplates have increased sensitivity down to 340 nm due to a reduction in background in transmission measurements.
Does Greiner Bio-One have microplates for measurement of DNA?
Yes! For the determination of nucleic acid and protein concentrations at 260 nm or 280 nm without background interference the UVStar® microplates are an ideal alternative to expensive and fragile quartz glass microplates or cuvettes.
Different UVStar® microplates are available:
- Standard 96 well UVStar® microplates (item no. 655 801)
- Half Area 96 well UVStar® microplates (item no. 675 801)
- 384 well UVStar® microplates (item no. 781 801)
What are the differences between "high binding" plates and "medium binding" plates?
High binding" polystyrene surfaces are hydrophilised using a special method of physical treatment, which allows increased binding capacity for polar molecules. The binding of non-polar molecules is favored by the hydrophobic "Medium binding" polystyrene surface.
Can Greiner Bio-One microplates be autoclaved?
Microplates made out of polystyrene do not withstand the high temperatures of the autoclaving process (specified thermal stability of polystyrene = -20°C - + 60°C) Microplates made out of polypropylene do have a higher temperature tolerance (specified temperature range of polypropylene = -196°C to + 121°C).
All microplates are intended for single use only and autoclaving is not recommended as autoclaving can influence the tight physical dimensions and tolerances of the microplates.
However most of our microplates are as well available in a sterile version and autoclaving is not necessary.
What means V-, U- and F-bottom and when should I use which microplate?
96 well microplates are available with different well designs:
- V-bottom: The V stands for the conically tapered well bottom. These microplates are ideally suited for applications in which the entire sample volume must be pipetted of.
- U-bottom: The U describes the round bottom shape. U-bottom microplates are ideally suited for sample mixing and agglutination tests.
- F-bottom: The F stands for the flat bottom of the wells. This well type is ideal for precise optical measurements. The measuring light source is not deflected by the well profile.
Take your next step in high throughput screening
High throughput assays and screening are a mainstay of basic research, drug development, diagnostics and quality control. It’s also continuously developing to meet changing needs.
Assays and screening campaigns are becoming more sophisticated and information-rich. If this sounds relevant to your work, visit our HTS blog. Our articles are made to help you get the best results from your high throughput screening campaigns.
Application Note: Enhanced Transfection Efficiency on Protein Coated Microplates
Application Notes / PDF, 451 KB
Application Notes / PDF, 451 KB
Forum No 6: Sealers for microplates and their areas of application in molecular biology and cell culture
Scientific Publications / PDF, 479 KB
Scientific Publications / PDF, 479 KB
Forum No 15: SCREENSTAR: A new 1536 Well Microplate for High Content and High Throughput Screening
Scientific Publications / PDF, 2 MB
Scientific Publications / PDF, 2 MB
Forum No 11: A New 384 Well Storage Plate Reducing Compound Consumption and Supporting Assay Miniaturisation
Scientific Publications / PDF, 3 MB
Scientific Publications / PDF, 3 MB
Application Note: UV/VIS Spectroscopy in Microplates UV-Star®, µClear®, MICROLON® and CELLSTAR®
Application Notes / PDF, 1 MB
Application Notes / PDF, 1 MB
Forum No 16: 96 Well Half Area Microplates and their Application in Fluorescence, Luminescence and Transmission Measurements
Scientific Publications / PDF, 2 MB
Scientific Publications / PDF, 2 MB
Application Note: Establishing a cell culture assay based on time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer (TR-FRET) for screening G-Protein coupled receptors
Scientific Publications / PDF, 445 KB
Scientific Publications / PDF, 445 KB
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