AUTOMATED PLAQUE PICKING AND ARRAYING ON A ROBOTIC SYSTEM EQUIPPED WITH A CCD CAMERA AND A SAMPLING DEVICE USING INTRAMEDIC TUBING

This report describes on automated method of M13 plaque identification using a monochrome charge coupled device (CCD) camera and picking and arraying of selected plaques using intramedic tubing as the inoculati ng mechanism. M13 plaques are identified in round petri dishes using i ndustrial vision techniques and specifically designed software. Intram edic polyethylene tubing segments provided by a tubing spool attached to the sampling system are used to harvest individual plaques. The tub ing segment carrying the plaque on its tip can be deposited either in a dry tube or in a tube containing culture media, without affecting th e quality of the DNA sequencing results. The basic components of the p ositioning, imaging, and sampling systems are described, along with de railed steps of the plaque identification procedure and of the custom- designed sampling system's operation. (C) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.