Measuring beta-galactosidase activity in bacteria: cell growth, permeabilization, and enzyme assays in 96-well arrays. |
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Authors: | Kevin L Griffith Richard E Wolf |
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Affiliation: | Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA. |
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Abstract: | We describe a high-throughput procedure for measuring beta-galactosidase activity in bacteria. This procedure is unique because all manipulations, including bacterial growth and cell permeabilization, are performed in a 96-well format. Cells are permeabilized by chloroform/SDS treatment directly in the 96-well blocks and then transferred to 96-well microplates for standard colorimetric assay of beta-galactosidase activity as described by Miller [J. H. Miller (1972) Experiments in Molecular Genetics, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, NY]. Absorbance data are collected with a microplate reader and analyzed using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The beta-galactosidase specific activity values obtained with the high-throughput procedure are identical to those obtained by the traditional single-tube method of Miller. Thus, values obtained with this procedure may be expressed as Miller units and compared directly to Miller units reported in the literature. The 96-well format for permeabilization and assay of enzyme specific activity together with the use of 12-channel and repeater pipettors enables efficient processing of hundreds of samples in an 8-h day. |
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Keywords: | β-galactosidase assay Miller units microtiter 96-well arrays plate reader gene regulation |
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