Position factors

PLA 3.0 can handle a wide range of plate layouts and is not restricted to any particular format. Position factors in PLA 3.0 support you in defining plate layouts. They let you associate your observation data in PLA 3.0 with its physical location on a plate or rack.

Microplates

PLA 3.0 lets you define microplates (microtiter plates) in various sizes. To define microplates, you use position factors for the rows and columns of your plate, for example, 96-well plates (8 rows, 12 columns), 384-well plates (16 rows, 24 columns), or 1536-well plates (32 rows, 48 columns). To define several plates, you use a third position factor.

The following figure shows a possible setup of three 96-well plates:

For examples of how to work with microplate layouts in PLA 3.0, see the Use case: Determine total human thyroxine (T4) and Use case: Validate a cleaning process for pharmaceutical water topics.

Tube racks

PLA 3.0 lets you define tube racks in various sizes. To define tube racks, you use position factors for the rows and columns of your rack, for example, 12-position racks (2 rows, 6 columns), 24-position racks (4 rows, 6 columns), or 48-position racks (4 rows, 12 columns). To define several racks, you use a third position factor.

The following figure shows a possible setup of two 12-position tube racks:

For an example of how to work with rack layouts in PLA 3.0, see the Add controls and define rack layouts topic.

Agar plates

PLA 3.0 lets you define agar plates with any number of cylinders. To define agar plates, you use the row position factor for the cylinders and the column position factor for the plate. To define several plates, you define several column position factors.

The following figure shows a possible setup of five agar plates with four cylinders per plate:

For an example of how to work with agar plates in PLA 3.0, see the Use large plates topic.