FIG. 3.

System for the retrieval and growth of a bacterial strain collection in microtiter plate format. The spring-loaded replicator is used for the parallel sampling of up to 96 stock cultures frozen in glycerol; the surfaces of all stock cultures are contacted by the pins even though the surfaces are not exactly at the same level. The sampled cells are allowed to grow on an agar plate for several days. The colonies formed are then transferred to a square-well microtiter plate filled with liquid medium, covered as shown, and incubated on an orbital shaker.