A Real-Time Multiplexed Microbial Growth Intervalometer for Capturing High-Resolution Growth Curves.

Batch cultures are a low maintenance and routine culturing method in microbiology. Automated tools that measure growth curves from microorganisms grown in traditional laboratory glassware, such as Balch-type tubes, are not commercially available. Here, we present a new MicrobiAl Growth Intervalometer (MAGI) that measures optical density as it correlates to microbial growth by utilizing photo-conduction as opposed to photo-attenuation used by traditional OD measurement equipment.

Coordinated downregulation of the photosynthetic apparatus as a protective mechanism against UV exposure in the diatom Corethron hystrix.

The effect of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) on photosynthetic efficiency and the resulting mechanisms against UV exposure employed by phytoplankton are not completely understood. To address this knowledge gap, we developed a novel close-coupled, wavelength-configurable platform designed to produce precise and repeatable in vitro irradiation of Corethron hystrix, a member of a genera found abundantly in the Southern Ocean where UV exposure is high. We aimed to determine its metabolic, protective, and repair mechanisms as a function of varying levels of specific electromagnetic energy.