Spot analysis

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Spot analysis, spot test analysis, or a spot test is a chemical test, a simple and efficient technique where analytic assays are executed in only one, or a few drops, of a chemical solution, preferably in a great piece of filter paper, without using any sophisticated instrumentation. The development and popularization of the test is credited to Fritz Feigl.[1][2]

Spot test or spot assay can also refer to a test often used in microbiology.

Chemistry

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The foundations of Feigl's work on spot analysis were the works of Hugo Schiff (the earliest publication about "spot test" was Shiff's detection of uric acid in 1859[3]) and of Christian Friedrich Schonberg and Friedrich Goppelsröder on capillary analysis.[2]

On the occasion of Feigl's 70th birthday the Chemical Society of Midland sponsored a symposium in 1952, attended by 500 scientists from 24 countries, in which all plenary sessions were related to spot tests.[2]

The test uses the qualitative characteristics of colored compounds to account for performed chemical reactions. This technique has been used to develop new quantification methods using modern technology.[4]

Microbiology

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File:Spot assay yeast cells.jpg
Spot assay of yeast cells on an agar plate. The spots show either growth (cells) or no growth (no cells)
File:96pinner.jpg
96 pinner used to perform spot assays with yeast or bacterial cells

A spot assay or spot test can also refer to a specific test in microbiology. This test is often used to check the growth rate of bacterial or yeast cells on different media or to perform serial dilution tests of micro-organisms. Usually a 96-pinner (often called frogger) is used to perform these spot assay. Another application is high-throughput screening, whichoften uses spot assays to determine the growth of eg. mated cells or to check for protein-protein interactions in a yeast two-hybrid test. This is often done with a robot.[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Spot tests in organic analysis", numerous editions
  2. ^ a b c Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  3. ^ H. Schiff, Ann. Chim. Acta, 1859, 109, 67.
  4. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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