Studies of bacterial aerotaxis in a microfluidic device.

ABSTRACT: Aerotaxis, the directional motion of bacteria in gradients of oxygen, was discovered in the late 19th century and has since been reported in a variety of bacterial species. Nevertheless, quantitative studies of aerotaxis have been complicated by the lack of tools for generation of stable gradients of oxygen concentration, [O(2)]. Here we report a series of experiments on aerotaxis of Escherichia coli in a specially built experimental setup consisting of a computer-controlled gas mixer and a two-layer microfluidic device made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The setup enables generation of a variety of stable linear profiles of [O(2)] across a long gradient channel, with characteristic [O(2)] ranging from aerobic to microaerobic conditions. A suspension of E. coli cells is perfused through t

SUBMITTER: Adler M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3520485 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature