Microbiology

The microbiology bench is dedicated to initial handling of samples for microbiological analyses like:

• subsampling
• conservation / fixing / staining of subsamples
• initial analyses, e.g. activity measurements

There is a Coy vinyl glove box available on request. This is a one person medium size model. The glove bag is 111 x 71 x 66 cm (L x H x D). The main aperture is 50.8 cm in diameter. There is an air lock for taking samples in and out the glove box chamber. The doors of the airlock chamber are 23 x 23 cm.

One of the most sensitive tests to detect surface or water attached microbes, i.e., living cells, is the ATP test with a luminometer and the firefly-based enzyme assay. The surfaces can be sampled with a specific type of Q-tips, and the numerical results are available within seconds.

When ATP is brought into contact with the reagent combination luciferin/luciferase, a reaction takes place which emits light in direct proportion to the amount of ATP present. The device measures the amount of light generated and provides information as to how much biological activity is present.

Samples can be stored at 4 °C in a reefer container.
A freezer down to -80 °C with 75 l volume is available on request.