Define the assay layout

Define how the samples are arranged on the plate for this use case.

Before you begin

You have created the suitability tests.

About this task

For this use case, you work with an assay with a 96-well plate layout. On the plate, you use wells A1 to A12 for the standard (reference) and wells B1 to B12 for the test sample. The rest of the wells remain empty.

The following figure shows the distribution of samples on the plate:
Figure 1. Distribution of samples on a 96-well plate for a daily assay run

Defining plate layouts involves two steps. First, you assign assay elements to wells. Next, you assign dilutions or sequence steps to wells. To perform these assignments, you use the primary display factor drop-down list () in the toolbar of the By Position editor. For details on this editor, see the By Position editor topic.

Tip: To improve the readability of your table, you can activate the grid color view option. This use case uses the By sequence step grid coloring.

Procedure

To define the assay layout:
  1. In the By Position editor, select Observation group ID as the primary display factor.
  2. Assign samples to wells according to the following logic:
    Cells Observation Group ID

    A1 to A12

    [1] Standard sample: Ref

    B1 to B12

    [2] Test sample: S1

    C1 to H12

    Do not make any assignments.
    Result: Your plate layout should now look like this:
    Figure 2. Assignment of assay elements to wells in the By Position editor, using the Observation group ID primary display factor (cropped)
  3. Select Sequence step as the primary display factor and assign dilutions to sequence steps according to the following logic:
    Cells Sequence step

    A1 and B1

    [1] 5

    A2 and B2

    [2] 3.33

    A3 and B3

    [3] 2.22

    A4 and B4

    [4] 1.48

    A5 and B5

    [5] 0.99

    A6 and B6

    [6] 0.66

    A7 and B7

    [7] 0.44

    A8 and B8

    [8] 0.29

    A9 and B9

    [9] 0.2

    A10 and B10

    [10] 0.13

    A11 and B11

    [11] 0.09

    A12 and B12

    [12] 0.06

    C1 to H12

    Do not make any assignments.
    Result: Your plate layout should now look like this:
    Figure 3. Assignment of dilutions to sequence steps in the By Position editor, using the Sequence step primary display factor (cropped)
  4. Save the template.