Microplate Readers and Assay Protocols

BMG LABTECH´s great product portfolio consists of multimode and dedicated microplate readers. The following table was not only created to give an overview of the features of all microplate readers but also to allow a fast check for compatibility of application and plate reader. More than 40 common assays and fluorophores are assigned to appropriate microplate readers allowing to choose the best suited instrument for customary and special applications.

Detection modes	PHERAstar Plus	POLARstar OMEGA	FLUOstar OMEGA	LUMIstar OMEGA	SPECTROstar OMEGA	NOVOstar	RUBYstar	NEPHELOstar
Absorbance	+	+	+		+	+
Fluorescence intensity	+	+	+			+
Fluorescence polarization	+	+				optional
Time-resolved fluorescence	+	+	+			+	+
FRET (Fluorescence intensity)	+	+	+			+
TR-FRET	+						+
Luminescence	+	+	+	+		+
BRET	+	+	+	+
Sequential dual emission detection	+	+	+	+		+
Simultaneous dual emission detection	+	+		optional		optional
Multichromatic	+	+	+	+	+	+
Nephelometry (scattered light)								+
Technical features	PHERAstar Plus	POLARstar OMEGA	FLUOstar OMEGA	LUMIstar OMEGA	SPECTROstar OMEGA	NOVOstar	RUBYstar	NEPHELOstar
Injectors		optional	optional	optional		+		optional
Pipettor and plate-to-plate transfer						+
45°C incubation	+	+	+	+	+	+		+
60°C incubation		optional	optional	optional	optional
CO2 incubation (Gas vent)		optional	optional	optional	optional	optional		optional
Absorbance UV/VIS Spectrometer		+	+		+
6 - 384 well	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+
6 - 1536 well	+
Assays	PHERAstar Plus	POLARstar OMEGA	FLUOstar OMEGA	LUMIstar OMEGA	SPECTROstar OMEGA	NOVOstar	RUBYstar	NEPHELOstar
Endpoint assays	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+
Kinetic assays	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	+
Well scanning	+	+	+	+
Absorbance UV/VIS Spectrometer		+	+		+
ELISA / immunoassays	+	+	+		+	+
Protein determination	PHERAstar Plus	POLARstar OMEGA	FLUOstar OMEGA	LUMIstar OMEGA	SPECTROstar OMEGA	NOVOstar	RUBYstar	NEPHELOstar
Bradford, BCA, Lowry	+	+	+		+	+
Protein (A280)	+	+	+		+	+
NanoOrange, CBQCA, QuantiT	+	+	+		+	+
Nucleic acid assays	PHERAstar Plus	POLARstar OMEGA	FLUOstar OMEGA	LUMIstar OMEGA	SPECTROstar OMEGA	NOVOstar	RUBYstar	NEPHELOstar
DNA/RNA/Oligos (A260)	+	+	+		+	+
260/280	+	+	+		+	+
RiboGreen, PicoGreen, Hoechst, OliGreen	+	+	+			+
DNAquant		+	+	+		+
SNP genotyping	+	+	+			+
Reporter genes	PHERAstar Plus	POLARstar OMEGA	FLUOstar OMEGA	LUMIstar OMEGA	SPECTROstar OMEGA	NOVOstar	RUBYstar	NEPHELOstar
ALP, beta-galactosidase	+	+	+	+		+
Beta-lactamase	+	+	+	+		+
Luciferase	+	+	+	+		+
Dual luciferase		+	+	+		+
CFP, GFP, YFP	+	+	+			+
Cell viability/proliferation/death	PHERAstar Plus	POLARstar OMEGA	FLUOstar OMEGA	LUMIstar OMEGA	SPECTROstar OMEGA	NOVOstar	RUBYstar	NEPHELOstar
MTT, XTT, Crystal Violet, SRB, Alamar Blue	+	+	+			+
Fluorescent Live/Dead kits, Alamar Blue	+	+	+			+
Calcein AM, CyQUANT	+	+	+			+
SYTOX Green, ethidium homodimer	+	+	+			+
Enzyme assays	PHERAstar Plus	POLARstar OMEGA	FLUOstar OMEGA	LUMIstar OMEGA	SPECTROstar OMEGA	NOVOstar	RUBYstar	NEPHELOstar
ATP (luciferase)	+	+	+	+		+
NADH (dehydrogenases)	+	+	+			+
Phosphatases/Kinases activity	+
Protease activity	+	+	+			+
HTS Assays	PHERAstar Plus	POLARstar OMEGA	FLUOstar OMEGA	LUMIstar OMEGA	SPECTROstar OMEGA	NOVOstar	RUBYstar	NEPHELOstar
HTRF® (Cisbio)	+						+
Delfia (Perkin Elmer)	+	+	+			+	+
LANCE (Perkin Elmer)	+
LanthaScreen (Invitrogen)	+
PolarScreen (Invitrogen)	+	not tested	not tested	not tested		not tested
Z'-Lyte (Invitrogen)	+	+	+			+
Ion Channel - VSP (Invitrogen)		+	+			+
Multiplexing (Promega)	+	not tested	not tested	not tested		not tested
P450 (Promega)	+	not tested	not tested	not tested		not tested
DLR (Promega)		+	+	+		+
HitHunter (DiscoveRx, luminescence)	+	+	+	+		+
HitHunter (DiscoveRx, fluorescence polarization)	+	+				+
MycoAlert (Cambrex)	+	+	+	+		+
PK Light (Cambrex)	+	+	+	+		+
ATP bioluminescence	+	+	+	+		+
CyDye fluors FRET protease	+	+	+			+
Intracellular calcium (Ca2+ assay)		+	+			+
Luminescent ABEL antioxidant test	+	+	+	+		+
Other	PHERAstar Plus	POLARstar OMEGA	FLUOstar OMEGA	LUMIstar OMEGA	SPECTROstar OMEGA	NOVOstar	RUBYstar	NEPHELOstar
Solubility screening (nephelometric)								+
ORAC (antioxidant capacity)		+	+			+
Microbial growth	+	+	+		+	+		+
Endotoxin endpoint colorimetric	+	+	+			+

Not all of the features mentioned above are available in the basic units. In some cases ugrades or additional filters may be necessary to perform certain assays. For more detailed information please contact your local distributor. Information given in this table is subject to change without notice.