The plate-dilution frequency technique described facilitates simultaneous enumeration of a wide range of physiologically different microorganisms in complex systems with a precision comparable to dilution tube (most probable number) methods. Replicate microsamples are inoculated from each member of a dilution series onto areas delineated on plates of prepoured solid media; the plates are incuba...

A yeast lysis assay in the microtiter plate format improved precision and throughput and led to an improved algorithm for estimating lag time. The assay reproducibly revealed differences of 10% or greater in the maximal lysis rate and 50% or greater in the lag time. Clonal differences were determined to be the major source of variation. Microtiter-based assays should be useful for screening for...

A plate assay to detect bacterial lipase (EC 3.1.1.3) in a medium containing trioleoylglycerol and the fluorescent dye rhodamine B is presented. Substrate hydrolysis causes the formation of orange fluorescent halos around bacterial colonies visible upon UV irradiation. The logarithm of lipase activity from cell-free culture supernatants is linearly correlated with the diameter of halos, thereby...

A plate assay which utilizes the addition of a blood agar overlay for detection of hemolysin by colonies of Leptospira interrogans serovar pomona is described.

OBJECTIVES This study was undertaken to isolate a fibrinolytic enzyme from the snake venom of Gloydius blomhoffii siniticus and to investigate its enzymatic characteristics and hemorrhagic activity as a potential pharmacopuncture agent. METHODS The fibrinolytic enzyme was isolated by using chromatography, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and fibrin plate assay. The c...

The assessment of physiochemical and pharmacological properties at early stages of drug discovery can accelerate the conversion of hits and leads into candidates for further development. A strategy for streamlined evaluation of compounds against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the early preclinical stage is presented in this report. As a primary assay to rapidly select experimental compounds with...

Combinable poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS) capillary (CPC) sensor array allowing single step and multiple bioanalysis by simply introducing a sample solution by capillary action, followed by spontaneous mixing and reactions for fluorescence readout was developed. Since the CPC is fabricated by combining "Convex"-shaped PDMS plate immobilizing an insoluble membrane containing analytical reagents ...

A 3D-printed microfluidic device was designed and manufactured using a low cost ($2000) consumer grade fusion deposition modelling (FDM) 3D printer. FDM printers are not typically used, or are capable, of producing the fine detailed structures required for microfluidic fabrication. However, in this work, the optical transparency of the device was improved through manufacture optimisation to suc...