Microstencils to generate defined,multi-species patterns of bacteria |
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Authors: | Collin M. Timm Ryan R. Hansen Mitchel J. Doktycz Scott T. Retterer Dale A. Pelletier |
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Affiliation: | 1.Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA;2.Department of Chemical Engineering, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas 66506, USA;3.Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA;4.University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA |
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Abstract: | Microbial communities are complex heterogeneous systems that are influenced by physical and chemical interactions with their environment, host, and community members. Techniques that facilitate the quantitative evaluation of how microscale organization influences the morphogenesis of multispecies communities could provide valuable insights into the dynamic behavior and organization of natural communities, the design of synthetic environments for multispecies culture, and the engineering of artificial consortia. In this work, we demonstrate a method for patterning microbes into simple arrangements that allow the quantitative measurement of growth dynamics as a function of their proximity to one another. The method combines parylene-based liftoff techniques with microfluidic delivery to simultaneously pattern multiple bacterial species with high viability using low-cost, customizable methods. Quantitative measurements of bacterial growth for two competing isolates demonstrate that spatial coordination can play a critical role in multispecies growth and structure. |
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