The 104-Well Microplate

Abstract

The 96-well microplate is a ubiquitous tool in the laboratory; its use is so extensive that in a limited number of situations it can be restrictive. Consider the situation where 96 samples need analysis or a downstream process in which the 96-well format leaves no space for additional standards or controls in the upstream 96-well processing. Consequently, plates are split or sample number reduced thereby incurring additional cost for plates, reagents, standards, controls, sample tracking, data files, and time to analyze the entire plate. A simple solution is proposed with the development of a companion 8 times 13-array microplate. The 104-well microplate was developed within the American National Standards Institute/Society for Biomolecular Science standards as to plate geometry and dimension, including well spacing (9 mm) with the exception that the columns have been shifted 4.5 mm to the left to accommodate the 13th column. The extra column allows for additional standards/controls without modifying chemistry, incorporating additional plates or changing to a 384-well plate. We show negligible difference (−0.0003 optical density) when comparing mean absorbance readings in 96- and 104-well format. We demonstrate use of the 104-well plate in a 96-well environment by incorporating it in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay on a standard liquid handler. Results from the assay show no difference between formats ( y = 1.039 x − 0.004, r = 0.997). Although the 104 plate was not created to supplant the 96-well standard, we conclude that the 104 plate can be incorporated into the 96-well environment without significant change in existing systems.