As we saw previously, a worklist is essentially a CSV or a text file with information (commands consisting of individual lines or records with data and instructions) for the liquid handler machines. Exporting a Mosquito worklist from TeselaGen's LIMS results in a .csv file following this format:
The first line says "Worklist". The format of the worklist file must adhere to certain standards. The word ‘Worklist’ must appear on its own on a line prior to the worklist data. It must be followed by either a carriage return or a comma. All numeric data in the file will then be interpreted as pipetting commands; all other data will be ignored.
Source Position, Column, Row, Destination Position, Column, Row, Transfer Volume
Source position and destination position indicate the location of plates in the instrument. The source position is set to 1 by default. The destination position is set to 2 by default.
Wells are identified through two parameters, column, and row: Column and row indicate the column position and row position of source wells and destination wells (e.g., well A1 would be column position = 1 and row position = 1)
Transfer volumes are in nL.
Example (see the image below): 1,1,1,2,1,1,100 represents a transfer of 100nL from position 1, column 1, row 1 to position 2, column 2, row 1.
See Mosquito Advanced Operator & Training Manual, Version 3.2.1
‘Worklist transfers’ (pages 24 to 26)
If you use Microsoft Excel to create or edit a CSV file for import, ensure that the standard separator for lists is a comma and the decimal symbol is a period (i.e., in Windows, under Control Panel > Clock, Language, and Region > Change date, time, or number formats > Formats > Additional Settings > List separator & Decimal symbol). Save your edited table in CSV format before closing Excel.
You can open the CSV file in Google Spreadsheets.
