Analysis of Factors Limiting Bacterial Growth in PDMS Mother Machine Devices.

ABSTRACT: The microfluidic mother machine platform has attracted much interest for its potential in studies of bacterial physiology, cellular organization, and cell mechanics. Despite numerous experiments and development of dedicated analysis software, differences in bacterial growth and morphology in narrow mother machine channels compared to typical liquid media conditions have not been systematically characterized. Here we determine changes in E. coli growth rates and cell dimensions in different sized dead-end microfluidic channels using high resolution optical microscopy. We find that E. coli adapt to the confined channel environment by becoming narrower and longer compared to the same strain grown in liquid culture. Cell dimensions decrease as the channel length increases and width decreases.

SUBMITTER: Yang D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5938360 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature