Communication and Computation by Bacteria Compartmentalized within Microemulsion Droplets

Weitz, Maximilian; Mückl, Andrea; Kapsner, Korbinian; Berg, Ronja; Meyer, Axel; Simmel, Friedrich C.

doi:10.1021/ja411132w

Cited by 77 publications

(74 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Compartments efficiently restrict the diffusion of reactive species 35 , but conversely require specific strategies in order to open communication channels between the units [36][37][38][39] . Living organisms elegantly manage transfer across their boundaries.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microscopic agents programmed by DNA circuits

Gines¹,

Zadorin²,

Galas³

et al. 2017

Nature Nanotech

125

148

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microscopic agents programmed by DNA circuits

Gines¹,

Zadorin²,

Galas³

et al. 2017

Nature Nanotech

125

148

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“…Droplet-based, emulsion, and microfluidic approaches have evolved as high-throughput tools for screening interactions within small groups of isolated bacteria (32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40). However, these confinement strategies typically offer little control over the spatial arrangement of aggregates, and diffusion of extracellular signals between the confinement volume and the surrounding environment is limited.…”

Section: -10mentioning

confidence: 99%

Real-time monitoring of quorum sensing in 3D-printed bacterial aggregates using scanning electrochemical microscopy

Connell

Kim

Shear

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

168

162

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Microbes frequently live in nature as small, densely packed aggregates containing ∼10 1 -10 5 cells. These aggregates not only display distinct phenotypes, including resistance to antibiotics, but also, serve as building blocks for larger biofilm communities. Aggregates within these larger communities display nonrandom spatial organization, and recent evidence indicates that this spatial organization is critical for fitness. Studying single aggregates as well as spatially organized aggregates remains challenging because of the technical difficulties associated with manipulating small populations. Micro-3D printing is a lithographic technique capable of creating aggregates in situ by printing protein-based walls around individual cells or small populations. This 3D-printing strategy can organize bacteria in complex arrangements to investigate how spatial and environmental parameters influence social behaviors. Here, we combined micro-3D printing and scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) to probe quorum sensing (QS)-mediated communication in the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Our results reveal that QS-dependent behaviors are observed within aggregates as small as 500 cells; however, aggregates larger than 2,000 bacteria are required to stimulate QS in neighboring aggregates positioned 8 μm away. These studies provide a powerful system to analyze the impact of spatial organization and aggregate size on microbial behaviors.Pseudomonas aeruginosa | scanning electrochemical microscopy | quorum sensing | 3D printing | pyocyanin B acterial populations are often found in nature as small, densely packed aggregates containing ∼10 1 -10 5 cells (1-5). These aggregates serve as building blocks for larger biofilm communities as well as a primary mode of transmission for pathogenic microbes (5-8). Similar to biofilm communities, aggregates develop microscale physical and chemical heterogeneity and display clinically relevant phenotypes, including enhanced antibiotic resistance (2,(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16). Moreover, aggregate sizes containing as few as 10 3 bacteria have been shown to engage in quorum sensing (QS)-mediated behaviors (17-21). In its simplest form, QS is a communication strategy that allows bacteria to effectively monitor their population density through the secretion and sensing of extracellular signals (7,(22)(23)(24). When the population reaches a specific density, activation of the QS regulatory cascade results in enhanced transcription of a defined set of genes. These genes control distinct behaviors, including virulence, in the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa (25). In addition to displaying QS-mediated behaviors, bacterial aggregates have been shown to interact with neighboring aggregates both in vitro and in vivo (9,(26)(27)(28). Indeed, these interactions have a profound impact on virulence and are often mediated by small diffusible molecules (8-10, 22, 29-31).Despite the prevalence of aggregates in nature, understanding the mechanisms controlling their behavior and intera...

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“…Recent efforts that encapsulate E. coli bacteria in 2D arrays of microdroplets open doors to investigate the effect of the spatial arrangement of cells on quorum-sensing (83). Arrays of droplets may similarly be used to spatially organize multispecies consortia in an effort to unravel the various inter-and intraspecies languages that bacteria speak (74).…”

Section: Lonely Quorumsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Zooming in to see the bigger picture: Microfluidic and nanofabrication tools to study bacteria

Hol

Dekker

2014

Science

170

124

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The spatial structure of natural habitats strongly affects bacterial life, ranging from nanoscale structural features that individual cells exploit for surface attachment, to micro- and millimeter-scale chemical gradients that drive population-level processes. Nanofabrication and microfluidics are ideally suited to manipulate the environment at those scales and have emerged as powerful tools with which to study bacteria. Here, we review the new scientific insights gained by using a diverse set of nanofabrication and microfluidic techniques to study individual bacteria and multispecies communities. This toolbox is beginning to elucidate disparate bacterial phenomena-including aging, electron transport, and quorum sensing-and enables the dissection of environmental communities through single-cell genomics. A more intimate integration of microfluidics, nanofabrication, and microbiology will enable further exploration of bacterial life at the smallest scales.

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Communication and Computation by Bacteria Compartmentalized within Microemulsion Droplets

Cited by 77 publications

References 26 publications

Microscopic agents programmed by DNA circuits

Microscopic agents programmed by DNA circuits

Real-time monitoring of quorum sensing in 3D-printed bacterial aggregates using scanning electrochemical microscopy

Zooming in to see the bigger picture: Microfluidic and nanofabrication tools to study bacteria

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