The OT-2 supports various labware for serial dilution. While the labware you use may vary based on the reagents, aluminum block, or temperature module requirements for your lab, we recommend the 12-channel reservoirs designed for automation to every lab doing serial dilutions. This 12-channel reservoir, plus a 96-well PCR plate, clear flat bottom microplate, and molecular biology grade water, are what we used to optimize and verify our serial dilution protocol. (view technical note) If you prefer to use different labware, you can most likely find a close match in our Labware Library, or reach out to our support team for help setting it up.

Ensure that your OT-2 is fitted with suitable pipettes for the volumes you will need to work with. All of our pipettes can support serial dilution, but pipette channel and size can vary based on your protocol. For example, if you’re diluting a 200 ml sample, a p300 pipette would suit that protocol well. You can also use a multichannel pipette to perform the dilution faster without needing to adapt the protocol. You can even choose to reuse tips by having the pipette hover over the well to dispense liquid rather than trash them, saving resources and lab costs. Please review our Opentrons Pipette White Paper for more information on our pipettes and pipetting volumes as low as 1 µL.