Selective, high-efficiency separations of intact bacteria may, in some cases, allow them to be identified and quantified in much the same way that molecules are done today. Two different capillary electrokinetic approaches were utilized. The first approach used a dissolved polymer-based CE separation that may be affected by size and shape considerations. Another approach uses capillary isoelectric focusing to separate bacteria by their surface charge or isoelectric point. Good peak shapes and extremely high efficiencies are observed (up to approximately 1,600,000 theoretical plates/m). Careful sample preparation and separation runs are essential in order to obtain reproducible separations. Expansion of these types of rapid, efficient microbial separations could have profound effects on many branches of science and technology.

Recent advances in the technique of capillary electrophoresis have demonstrated fast, highly efficient separation of mixtures of intact microbes. This paper describes the application of this technique for the separation of microbial aggregates of Micrococcus luteus, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, or Alcaligenes faecalis. The aggregates of these microbes were resolved into several highly efficient peaks with analysis times under 10 min and efficiencies approaching 1000000 plates m(-1) in some cases. A reproducible relationship was found between the electrophoretic mobility and the aggregation number or size of the cluster under a given set of experimental conditions. Often, cellular aggregation was reversible with brief immersion in an ultrasound bath. This reversibility was confirmed by visual microscopy and electrophoretic data.

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