Upgrading a microplate reader for photobiology and all-optical experiments

摘要: Automation can vastly reduce the cost of experimental labor and thus facilitate high throughput, but little off-the-shelf hardware for automation illumination experiments is commercially available. Here, we use inexpensive open-source electronics to add programmable capabilities a multimode microplate reader. We deploy this setup characterize light-triggered phenomena in three different sensory photoreceptors. First, study photoactivation Arabidopsis thaliana phytochrome B by light wavelengths. Second, investigate dark-state recovery kinetics Synechocystis sp. blue-light sensor Slr1694 at multiple temperatures imidazole concentrations; while W91F mutant are strongly accelerated imidazole, wild-type protein hardly affected. Third, determine response Beggiatoa photoactivatable adenylate cyclase bPAC Chinese hamster ovary cells. activated blue dose-dependent manner with half-maximal intensity 0.58 mW cm−2; intracellular cAMP spikes generated upon activation decay half time about 5 minutes after switch-off. Taken together, present which easily assembled offers facile approach conducting reproducibility fidelity.