GB2155948A - Container - Google Patents

Abstract

A culture container comprising a plurality of culture wells (4) and a base therefore (1), said base being provided with means for locating said wells (9), (1a) substantially vertically to the plane of the base and within a predefined circular area. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Container The present invention relates to containers particularly to vessels for the cultivation of microorganisms.

In recent years intensified research and economic considerations in various fields of science have produced an urgent need for rationalisation of procedures and equipment to efficiently handle large number of probes.

In fields such as virology, immunology and in some microbiological applications, rationalisation has been achieved by the introduction of miniaturised culture systems e.g. 12- or 24-multi-well plates of 96-well microtiter plates and subsequent development of compatible handling and assay systems and devices.

In certain other microbiological applications e.g.

in the cultivation of filamentous fungi and actinomycetes there are various limitations on the extent to which these present day miniaturised systems can be employed, the most important being: too small culture wells; inflexibility in handling and processing individual wells; -geometic incompatibility with other ubiquitously used culture systems, e.g. petri dishes, -insufficient exchange of gas between interior and exterior of the systems.

The present invention relates to a rationalised system devised for cultivating and handling microorganisms, e.g. filamentous fungi, yeasts, actinomycetes, bacteria, algae etc., avoiding all the aforesaid disadvantages of present-day systems. In this system the culture wells are miniaturused to an acceptable size in a geometrical arrangement which is compatible with standard equipment (e.g.

petri-dishes). The culture-wells can optionally be removed and rearranged individually and a lid can be provided to protect the interior from external contamination or dessication while allowing fairly good gas exchange.

The invention thus concerns a culture container comprising a plurality of culture wells and a base therefor, said base being provided with means for locating said wells substantially vertically to the plane of the base and within a predefined substantially circular area.

The predefined circular area will preferably be that conforming with the base area of a petri-dish of chosen diameter.

The locating means in the base can take various forms. Thus wells and base can be moulded as a single unit or preferably the base can be provided with a plurality of recessed cavities adapted to receive and retain individual culture wells. This latter alternative allows for flexibility in the number and arrangement of wells placed in an individual base unit. The container unit may also be provided with a lid which covers all wells protecting them from airborne contamination and dessication of media in the wells.

The base unit may further be provided with means for locating it in a particular orientation e.g.

on a tray. Suitable such means include e.g. visual markings, protruding lugs or especially, on a noncircular base "cutting" of a corner. Compatible means can also be present on the lid to allow its precise orientation with the base e.g. for consistent identification of individual wells therein.

The wells are small substantially straight-sided tubes sealed at the end to be inserted into the base in such a way as to be capable of free-standing and open at the opposite end. The size of the wells is chosen according to the growth characteristics of the microorganism to be cultured. In general for fungi, actinomycetes and bacteria a certain minimum well height is essential to allow growth and to reduce the possibility of cross-contamination and the ratio of depth to diameter (circular tubes) or width (non-circular tubes) will usually lie between 1:1 and 3:1 especially about 2:1. Actual size is chosen according to the microorganisms to be cultured in line with the growth characteristics. Circular wells are preferred, but square, hexagonal or other forms may prove advantageous for certain applications.The wells may be provided with one or more baffles of various sizes to assist agitation of fluids if required.

Base, lid and wells may be constructed from any material conventionally employed for such containers e.g. glass, metal or synthetic, especially transparent plastics stable to chemical or physical sterilisation procedures.

The presently disclosed invention can, for many microbiological applications, replace existing laborious and time-, material- and space-consuming techniques, e.g. cultivation in test-tubes or erlenmeyer-flasks and individual inoculations, transfers and assays.

A particular embodiment of the invention is described with reference to the attached figures.

Figure 1 shows a plan view of the base unit with eleven wells present Figure 2 shows an underplan view of the baseunit without wells.

Figure 3 shows a plan view of the lid.

Figure 4 shows a side-elevation of the base unit with wells from Direction x (Figure 1).

Figure 5 shows a side-elevation of the lid from direction x (Figure 3).

Figure 6 shows a cross-section of base, lid and well along the line A-A of Figure 1.

Figure 7 shows a cross section of the base along the line B-B of Figure 1.

For convenience not every identical feature present is numbered.

The base (1) is moulded as a single unit (e.g.

from polystyrene) to form a series of walled (9) cavities (lea). The lid (2) when present is supported by lugs (3). The wells (4) are closed at one end (5) and open at the other end (5). Cavity bottoms (6) are annular surrounding a hole (7) in the base.

Each well (4) has integrally moulded therein a baffle (8). One corner each of the base unit and lid is cut 11).

In use the required number of wells (4) is fitted into the individual cavities (la) of the base and filled with appropriate amounts of the desired ster ile culture medium or other material. The wells are then inoculated with the microorganism to be investigated either individually by conventional inoculation techniques or preferably simultaneously by a multi-inoculation device. Following inoculation and any other necessary manipulations the base unit and wells are covered by the lid (2) cut corners (10, 11) enabling precise orientation and depending on the purpose of the investigation, the closed system can be incubated standing still or e.g. on a rotary shaker (in this latter case the baffles (8) assist agitation). Following inoculation the cultures may be removed or rearranged individually in the wells or may be used e.g. for further inoculation, transferring, antibiotic assay or the like in petri-dishes, fresh culture vessels or other compatible systems. Sampling and transfer is preferably carried out using a multi-transfer device whereby prior homogenisation using a suitable homogeniser may be required. Removal of wells from the base unit is facilitated by pressure through holes (5).

Such a container unit having e.g. 14 tube-wells of ca. 2 cm. external diameter conforms with a standard 9 cm Bpetri-dish.

Claims (2)

1. A culture container comprising a plurality of culture wells and a base therefor, said base being provided with means for locating said wells substantially vertically to the plane of the base and within a predefined substantially circular area.

2. A container according to Claim 1 substantially as hereinbefore described.