We have a Biolog(R) Omnilog instrument in the lab. It can be accessed by colleagues from the campus who are interested in measuring respiratory growth curves of bacteria, fungi or cells in the presence of unique carbon or nitrogen (or else) sources.
The “phenotype microarrays” technology is described here. It serves to test the ability of cells to utilize single compounds. Many compounds can be tested in parallel in 96 well format. Substrates are predefined as you have to order plates from a catalog .
The instrument is basically an incubator, with a robotized system and CCD camera to monitor “growth” by measuring absorbance every 15 minutes.
You need to set-up your experiment and prepare your plates in your lab. We provide access to the instrument and can help with data extraction/analysis.