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Greipel E, Nagy K, Csákvári E, Dér L, Galajda P, Kutasi J. Chemotactic Interactions of Scenedesmus sp. and Azospirillum brasilense Investigated by Microfluidic Methods. MICROBIAL ECOLOGY 2024; 87:52. [PMID: 38498218 PMCID: PMC10948495 DOI: 10.1007/s00248-024-02366-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2023] [Accepted: 03/08/2024] [Indexed: 03/20/2024]
Abstract
The use of algae for industrial, biotechnological, and agricultural purposes is spreading globally. Scenedesmus species can play an essential role in the food industry and agriculture due to their favorable nutrient content and plant-stimulating properties. Previous research and the development of Scenedesmus-based foliar fertilizers raised several questions about the effectiveness of large-scale algal cultivation and the potential effects of algae on associative rhizobacteria. In the microbiological practice applied in agriculture, bacteria from the genus Azospirillum are one of the most studied plant growth-promoting, associative, nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Co-cultivation with Azospirillum species may be a new way of optimizing Scenedesmus culturing, but the functioning of the co-culture system still needs to be fully understood. It is known that Azospirillum brasilense can produce indole-3-acetic acid, which could stimulate algae growth as a plant hormone. However, the effect of microalgae on Azospirillum bacteria is unclear. In this study, we investigated the behavior of Azospirillum brasilense bacteria in the vicinity of Scenedesmus sp. or its supernatant using a microfluidic device consisting of physically separated but chemically coupled microchambers. Following the spatial distribution of bacteria within the device, we detected a positive chemotactic response toward the microalgae culture. To identify the metabolites responsible for this behavior, we tested the chemoeffector potential of citric acid and oxaloacetic acid, which, according to our HPLC analysis, were present in the algae supernatant in 0.074 mg/ml and 0.116 mg/ml concentrations, respectively. We found that oxaloacetic acid acts as a chemoattractant for Azospirillum brasilense.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erika Greipel
- Albitech Biotechnological Ltd, Berlini Út 47-49, 1045, Budapest, Hungary
- Department of Plant Anatomy, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter Stny 1/C, H-1117, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Krisztina Nagy
- Institute of Biophysics, HUN-REN Biological Research Centre, Szeged, Temesvári Krt. 62, 6726, Szeged, Hungary.
| | - Eszter Csákvári
- Institute of Biophysics, HUN-REN Biological Research Centre, Szeged, Temesvári Krt. 62, 6726, Szeged, Hungary
- Division for Biotechnology, Bay Zoltán Nonprofit Ltd. for Applied Research, Derkovits Fasor 2, 6726, Szeged, Hungary
| | - László Dér
- Institute of Biophysics, HUN-REN Biological Research Centre, Szeged, Temesvári Krt. 62, 6726, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Peter Galajda
- Institute of Biophysics, HUN-REN Biological Research Centre, Szeged, Temesvári Krt. 62, 6726, Szeged, Hungary
| | - József Kutasi
- Albitech Biotechnological Ltd, Berlini Út 47-49, 1045, Budapest, Hungary
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Hu P, Ly KL, Pham LPH, Pottash AE, Sheridan K, Wu HC, Tsao CY, Quan D, Bentley WE, Rubloff GW, Sintim HO, Luo X. Bacterial chemotaxis in static gradients quantified in a biopolymer membrane-integrated microfluidic platform. LAB ON A CHIP 2022; 22:3203-3216. [PMID: 35856590 PMCID: PMC9756273 DOI: 10.1039/d2lc00481j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Chemotaxis is a fundamental bacterial response mechanism to changes in chemical gradients of specific molecules known as chemoattractant or chemorepellent. The advancement of biological platforms for bacterial chemotaxis research is of significant interest for a wide range of biological and environmental studies. Many microfluidic devices have been developed for its study, but challenges still remain that can obscure analysis. For example, cell migration can be compromised by flow-induced shear stress, and bacterial motility can be impaired by nonspecific cell adhesion to microchannels. Also, devices can be complicated, expensive, and hard to assemble. We address these issues with a three-channel microfluidic platform integrated with natural biopolymer membranes that are assembled in situ. This provides several unique attributes. First, a static, steady and robust chemoattractant gradient was generated and maintained. Second, because the assembly incorporates assembly pillars, the assembled membrane arrays connecting nearby pillars can be created longer than the viewing window, enabling a wide 2D area for study. Third, the in situ assembled biopolymer membranes minimize pressure and/or chemiosmotic gradients that could induce flow and obscure chemotaxis study. Finally, nonspecific cell adhesion is avoided by priming the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microchannel surfaces with Pluronic F-127. We demonstrated chemotactic migration of Escherichia coli as well as Pseudomonas aeruginosa under well-controlled easy-to-assemble glucose gradients. We characterized motility using the chemotaxis partition coefficient (CPC) and chemotaxis migration coefficient (CMC) and found our results consistent with other reports. Further, random walk trajectories of individual cells in simple bright field images were conveniently tracked and presented in rose plots. Velocities were calculated, again in agreement with previous literature. We believe the biopolymer membrane-integrated platform represents a facile and convenient system for robust quantitative assessment of cellular motility in response to various chemical cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Piao Hu
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Catholic University of America, Washington, District of Columbia 20064, USA.
| | - Khanh L Ly
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Catholic University of America, Washington, District of Columbia 20064, USA
| | - Le P H Pham
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Catholic University of America, Washington, District of Columbia 20064, USA.
| | - Alex E Pottash
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Kathleen Sheridan
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Catholic University of America, Washington, District of Columbia 20064, USA
| | - Hsuan-Chen Wu
- Institute for Bioscience & Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Chen-Yu Tsao
- Institute for Bioscience & Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - David Quan
- Institute for Bioscience & Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - William E Bentley
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
- Institute for Bioscience & Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Gary W Rubloff
- Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Herman O Sintim
- Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
| | - Xiaolong Luo
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Catholic University of America, Washington, District of Columbia 20064, USA.
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Numerical Simulation of the Enrichment of Chemotactic Bacteria in Oil-Water Two-Phase Transfer Fields of Heterogeneous Porous Media. APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/app12105215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Oil pollution in soil-groundwater systems is difficult to remove, and a large amount of residual oil is trapped in the low permeable layer of the heterogeneous aquifer. Aromatic hydrocarbons in oil have high toxicity and low solubility in water, which are harmful to the ecological environment. Chemotactic degrading bacteria can perceive the concentration gradient of non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) pollutants in the groundwater environment, and enrich and proliferate around the pollutants, thus achieving a more efficient and thorough remediation effect. However, the existing theoretical models are relatively simple. The physical fields of oil–water two-phase flow and oil-phase solute convection and diffusion in water are not coupled, which further restricts the accuracy of studies on bacterial chemotaxis to NAPL. In this study, geometric models based on the actual microfluidic experimental study were constructed. Based on the phase field model, diffusion convection equation and chemotaxis velocity equation, the effects of heterogeneity of porous media, wall wettability and groundwater flow rate on the residual oil and the concentration distribution of chemotaxis bacteria were studied. Under all of the simulation conditions, the residual oil in the high permeable area was significantly lower than that in the low permeable area, and the wall hydrophilicity enhanced the water flooding effect. Chemotactic bacteria could react to the concentration gradient of pollutants dissolved into water in the oil phase, and enrich near the oil–water interface with high concentration of NAPL, and the density of chemotactic bacteria at the oil–water interface can be up to 1.8–2 times higher than that in the water phase at flow rates from 1.13 to 6.78 m/d.
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Zhu X, Wang K, Yan H, Liu C, Zhu X, Chen B. Microfluidics as an Emerging Platform for Exploring Soil Environmental Processes: A Critical Review. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2022; 56:711-731. [PMID: 34985862 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.1c03899] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Investigating environmental processes, especially those occurring in soils, calls for innovative and multidisciplinary technologies that can provide insights at the microscale. The heterogeneity, opacity, and dynamics make the soil a "black box" where interactions and processes are elusive. Recently, microfluidics has emerged as a powerful research platform and experimental tool which can create artificial soil micromodels, enabling exploring soil processes on a chip. Micro/nanofabricated microfluidic devices can mimic some of the key features of soil with highly controlled physical and chemical microenvironments at the scale of pores, aggregates, and microbes. The combination of various techniques makes microfluidics an integrated approach for observation, reaction, analysis, and characterization. In this review, we systematically summarize the emerging applications of microfluidic soil platforms, from investigating soil interfacial processes and soil microbial processes to soil analysis and high-throughput screening. We highlight how innovative microfluidic devices are used to provide new insights into soil processes, mechanisms, and effects at the microscale, which contribute to an integrated interrogation of the soil systems across different scales. Critical discussions of the practical limitations of microfluidic soil platforms and perspectives of future research directions are summarized. We envisage that microfluidics will represent the technological advances toward microscopic, controllable, and in situ soil research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiangyu Zhu
- Department of Environmental Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Organic Pollution Process and Control, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
| | - Kun Wang
- Department of Environmental Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Organic Pollution Process and Control, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
| | - Huicong Yan
- Department of Environmental Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Organic Pollution Process and Control, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
| | - Congcong Liu
- Department of Environmental Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Organic Pollution Process and Control, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
| | - Xiaoying Zhu
- Department of Environmental Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Organic Pollution Process and Control, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
| | - Baoliang Chen
- Department of Environmental Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Organic Pollution Process and Control, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
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Sun N, Jiang F, Zhang L, Feng G. Hyphal exudates of an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus<italic>Rhizophagus irregularis</italic> induce phosphate-solubilizingbacterium <italic>Rahnella aquatilis</italic> to swim towards its hyphae. CHINESE SCIENCE BULLETIN-CHINESE 2021. [DOI: 10.1360/tb-2021-0579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Zhou W, Le J, Chen Y, Cai Y, Hong Z, Chai Y. Recent advances in microfluidic devices for bacteria and fungus research. Trends Analyt Chem 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.trac.2018.12.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
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Debski PR, Sklodowska K, Michalski JA, Korczyk PM, Dolata M, Jakiela S. Continuous Recirculation of Microdroplets in a Closed Loop Tailored for Screening of Bacteria Cultures. MICROMACHINES 2018; 9:E469. [PMID: 30424402 PMCID: PMC6187375 DOI: 10.3390/mi9090469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2018] [Revised: 09/05/2018] [Accepted: 09/14/2018] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
Emerging microfluidic technology has introduced new precision controls over reaction conditions. Owing to the small amount of reagents, microfluidics significantly lowers the cost of carrying a single reaction. Moreover, in two-phase systems, each part of a dispersed fluid can be treated as an independent chemical reactor with a volume from femtoliters to microliters, increasing the throughput. In this work, we propose a microfluidic device that provides continuous recirculation of droplets in a closed loop, maintaining low consumption of oil phase, no cross-contamination, stabilized temperature, a constant condition of gas exchange, dynamic feedback control on droplet volume, and a real-time optical characterization of bacterial growth in a droplet. The channels (tubing) and junction cubes are made of Teflon fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) to ensure non-wetting conditions and to prevent the formation of biofilm, which is particularly crucial for biological experiments. We show the design and operation of a novel microfluidic loop with the circular motion of microdroplet reactors monitored with optical sensors and precision temperature controls. We have employed the proposed system for long term monitoring of bacterial growth during the antibiotic chloramphenicol treatment. The proposed system can find applications in a broad field of biomedical diagnostics and therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pawel R Debski
- Department of Biophysics, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, 159 Nowoursynowska Street, 02776 Warsaw, Poland.
| | - Karolina Sklodowska
- Department of Biophysics, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, 159 Nowoursynowska Street, 02776 Warsaw, Poland.
- Department of Plant Genetics, Breeding and Biotechnology, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, 159 Nowoursynowska Street, 02776 Warsaw, Poland.
| | - Jacek A Michalski
- Faculty of Civil Engineering, Mechanics and Petrochemistry, Warsaw University of Technology, 17 Lukasiewicza Street, 09400 Plock, Poland.
| | - Piotr M Korczyk
- Institute of Fundamental Technological Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, Pawinskiego 5B, 02106 Warsaw, Poland.
| | - Miroslaw Dolata
- Department of Econophysics and Physics Application, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, 159 Nowoursynowska Street, 02776 Warsaw, Poland.
| | - Slawomir Jakiela
- Department of Biophysics, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, 159 Nowoursynowska Street, 02776 Warsaw, Poland.
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