Using the Deep 96-Well Pin Tool

The 96-well pin tool can be used to transfer long-term evolution experiments and to make dilutions when plating many samples. Although advertised to transfer 5 µl of liquid, it routinely transfers ~3.5 µl of culture in my hands. It also appears to be slightly less precise (~10% stderr) than a pipetman (~5% stderr) based on replicate test dilutions of identical cultures.

Preparation

1. Fill three large tip boxes with 10% bleach, ddH₂O, and isopropanol (2-propanol). The level of liquid in the bleach should be just enough to go slightly above the tops of the slats in each pin when the pin tool rests on the sides of the tip box. The level of the ddH₂O should be 0.5 cm higher. The level of the isopropanol should be even higher than the water.
2. Place a sheet of filter paper (stored on the center shelf of Jeff-and-Carla's bench) on top of two folded paper towels.

Each Use

1. Clean
2. Mix Dip the pin tool into the plate to be transfer
3. Clean Same as before, you can flame just once.
4. Pickup
5. Transfer