Toward development of an autonomous network of bacteria-based delivery systems (BacteriaBots): spatiotemporally high-throughput characterization of bacterial quorum-sensing response

Anal Chem. 2014 Dec 2;86(23):11489-93. doi: 10.1021/ac5021003. Epub 2014 Nov 12.

Abstract

Characterization of bacterial innate and engineered cooperative behavior, regulated through chemical signaling in a process known as quorum sensing, is critical to development of a myriad of bacteria-enabled systems including biohybrid drug delivery systems and biohybrid mobile sensor networks. Here, we demonstrate, for the first time, that microfluidic diffusive mixers can be used for spatiotemporally high-throughput characterization of bacterial quorum-sensing response. Using this batch characterization method, the quorum-sensing response in Escherichia coli MG1655, transformed with a truncated lux operon from Vibrio fischeri, in the presence of 1-100 nM exogenous acyl-homoserine lactone molecules has been quantified. This method provides a rapid and facile tool for high-throughput characterization of the quorum-sensing response of genetically modified bacteria in the presence of a wide concentration range of signaling molecules with a precision of ±0.5 nM. Furthermore, the quorum-sensing response of BacteriaBots has been characterized to determine if the results obtained from a large bacterial population can serve as a robust predictive tool for the small bacterial population attached to each BacteriaBot.

Publication types

  • Letter
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Aliivibrio fischeri / genetics
  • Aliivibrio fischeri / isolation & purification*
  • Drug Delivery Systems*
  • Escherichia coli / genetics
  • Escherichia coli / isolation & purification*
  • High-Throughput Screening Assays*
  • Microfluidic Analytical Techniques*
  • Quorum Sensing*