PlateEditor: A web-based application for the management of multi-well plate layouts and associated data

Abstract

Multi-well plates are convenient tools to work with in biology experiments, as they allow the probing of multiple conditions in a compact and economic way. Although both free and commercial software exist for the definition of plate layout and management of plate data, we were looking for a more flexible solution, available anywhere, free from download, installation and licensing constraints. In this context, we created PlateEditor, a free web-based, client-side application allowing rapid creation of even complex layouts, including dose-response curves and multiple combination experiments for any plate format up to 1536 wells. PlateEditor also provides heatmap visualization and aggregation features to speed-up the process of data analysis and formatting for export in other application. Written in pure JavaScript, it is fully open-source, can be integrated in various workflows and has the potential to be extended with more functionalities in the future.

Injectiondesign: web service of plate design with optimized stratified block randomization for modern GC/LC-MS-based sample preparation

“…At present, there are already some tools for plate design such as OSAT [ 14 ], Well Plate Maker(WPM) [ 15 ], Omixer [ 16 ], PlateDesigner [ 17 ], PlateEditor [ 18 ] and PLAID [ 19 ]. Although the plate design takes up little time in the whole experimental process, the layout design and the injection sequence of the experiment have a significant impact on the final identification.…”

Designing microplate layouts using artificial intelligence

“…Considering the widespread availability of automation equipment [11, 13], including pipetting robots that can arrange controls and compounds anywhere on a plate, scientists have been advocating for the use of randomised plate layouts for many years [19]. Although there are many plate layout editors freely available, such as Brunn [20], FlowJo [21], Labfolder [22], PlateDesigner [23], and PlateEditor [24], some of which offer the option of randomised microplate layouts, they are not easily customisable, and generating new random layouts for each plate can be very challenging without advanced programming skills aligning liquid handlers and data analysis software. On top of that, even though randomised microplate layouts have been shown to perform well in practice and are currently considered the state-of-the-art [19], pure randomisation can still produce ineffective layouts, given that, for example, technical replicates may be randomly placed in adjacent wells which are then likely to be affected by the same plate effects.…”

“…Several plate layout editors are available, such as Brunn [23], FlowJo [24], Labfolder [25], PlateDesigner [26], and PlateEditor [27]. While some are able to generate randomised layouts, none of them have capabilities to generate effective layouts.…”