MicroResp™

A microplate-based system developed at the James Hutton Institute to rapidly characterise soil microbial community activities underpinning soil health

MicroResp™ measures functional activity using multiple substrates to assess changes to quantify microbial functional diversity and can be applied to a range of environmental quality issues at field and regional scales.

A common use of the system is to measure substrate-induced respiration with a common set of soluble carbon substrates including sugars, amino acids, carboxylic acids and phenolics to generate Community Level Physiological Profiles (CLPPs).

MicroResp allows flexibility to customise the 96-well plate design to incorporate specific substrates of interest to widen the scope of physiological profiling, or for toxicity testing, allowing us to customise the analysis to your needs.

The MicroResp system has been applied worldwide by scientists, industry and environmental agencies.

Clare Cameron, Ecological Sciences Research Assistant

What do we offer? 

We offer an analytical service of Multi-Substrate-Induced Respiration (MSIR) measurements

We are flexible to carry out this measurement to specific requirements. The standard MSIR set-up consists of two samples per plate, measuring 15 substrates and water control in triplicate. The standard substrates cover a range of carbon sources ecologically relevant to metabolites present in soil. However, customers can request specific substrates subject to compatibility.

For more information and pricing please contact us.

Filled Deepwell
MicroResp System
Dispensing substrates
MicroResp at 0h (L) and 6h (R)

We also sell the MicroResp™ system components enabling the researcher or analyst to carry out their own measurements

We are the sole distributor of the MicroResp products, distributing worldwide.  Our team is available to offer purchasing advice and provide technical support.

To order, visit our website microresp.com or email us at info@microresp.com

Contact for more information

Research Assistant
Based in Aberdeen
T: +44 (0)344 928 5428 (*)
Clare is a Research Assistant in the Biodiversity and Ecosystems Group within the Ecological Sciences.  She has over 25 years’ experience in soil microbial ecology, using both phospholipid fatty acid analysis and physiological profiling methods to assess structure and function of soil microbial communities.   Clare was jointly responsible for the development of MicroResp™ and currently manages the commercial aspects of the MicroResp™ product for James Hutton Limited.