Probing Antibiotic Inhibition in Small Bacterial Populations With Combinatorial Droplet Microfluidics.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial infections often involve small, local populations of bacteria, yet antibiotic treatment decisions are generally based on bulk population susceptibility assays. Stochastic variability among local small populations can influence susceptibility, limiting the predictive capability of bulk assays. Therefore there is a need to better understand antibiotic response in small populations. Droplet-based microfluidics enables the high-throughput production of tens of thousands of picolitre droplets, in which small populations of bacteria (e.g., 8 cells) can be encapsulated and their responses to different environmental conditions tracked. Here, we use a combinatorial droplet-generation platform, combined with microscopy and image analysis, to interrogate the responses of small populations o

SUBMITTER: Samimi A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12849860 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature