Gradient microfluidics enables rapid bacterial growth inhibition testing

Li, B., Qiu, Y., Glidle, A., McIlvenna, D., Luo, Q., Cooper, J. , Shi, H.-C. and Yin, H. (2014) Gradient microfluidics enables rapid bacterial growth inhibition testing. Analytical Chemistry, 86(6), pp. 3131-3137. (doi: 10.1021/ac5001306)

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Publisher's URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ac5001306

Abstract

Bacterial growth inhibition tests have become a standard measure of the adverse effects of inhibitors for a wide range of applications, such as toxicity testing in the medical and environmental sciences. However, conventional well-plate formats for these tests are laborious and provide limited information (often being restricted to an end-point assay). In this study, we have developed a microfluidic system that enables fast quantification of the effect of an inhibitor on bacteria growth and survival, within a single experiment. This format offers a unique combination of advantages, including long-term continuous flow culture, generation of concentration gradients, and single cell morphology tracking. Using Escherichia coli and the inhibitor amoxicillin as one model system, we show excellent agreement between an on-chip single cell-based assay and conventional methods to obtain quantitative measures of antibiotic inhibition (for example, minimum inhibition concentration). Furthermore, we show that our methods can provide additional information, over and above that of the standard well-plate assay, including kinetic information on growth inhibition and measurements of bacterial morphological dynamics over a wide range of inhibitor concentrations. Finally, using a second model system, we show that this chip-based systems does not require the bacteria to be labeled and is well suited for the study of naturally occurring species. We illustrate this using Nitrosomonas europaea, an environmentally important bacteria, and show that the chip system can lead to a significant reduction in the period required for growth and inhibition measurements (<4 days, compared to weeks in a culture flask).

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Yin, Professor Huabing and McIlvenna, Mr David and Glidle, Dr Andrew and Cooper, Professor Jonathan
Authors: Li, B., Qiu, Y., Glidle, A., McIlvenna, D., Luo, Q., Cooper, J., Shi, H.-C., and Yin, H.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Biomedical Engineering
College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Electronics and Nanoscale Engineering
Journal Name:Analytical Chemistry
Journal Abbr.:Anal. chem.
Publisher:American Chemical Society
ISSN:0003-2700
ISSN (Online):1520-6882
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2014 The Authors
First Published:First published in Analytical Chemistry 86(6):3131-3137
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
532401Engineering a semi-biotic systemHuabing YinEngineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)EP/H04986X/1ENG - BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING
574961Shell inspiration: turning nature's secrets into engineering solutions.Huabing YinEngineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)EP/J009121/1ENG - BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING