Analysis of Factors Limiting Bacterial Growth in PDMS Mother Machine Devices

Frontiers in Microbiology
Da YangJaan Männik

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. These changes are accompanied by increases in doubling times in agreement with the universal growth law. In channels 100 μm and longer, cell doublings can completely stop as a result of frictional forces that oppose cell elongation. Before complete cessation of elongation, mechanical stresses lead to substantial deformation of cells and changes in their morphology. Our work shows that mechanical forces rather than nutrient limitation are the m...Continue Reading

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Citations

Sep 20, 2018·Molecular Microbiology·Jaana MännikJaan Männik
Jul 11, 2019·Journal of the Royal Society, Interface·Alma Dal CoSimon van Vliet
Mar 24, 2020·Nature Microbiology·Kristin A MooreJeffrey C Cameron
May 24, 2019·PLoS Biology·Audrey Menegaz ProencaLin Chao
Dec 21, 2019·Scientific Reports·Yao-Kuan WangChien-Jung Lo
May 1, 2020·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Yichao YangKamil L Ekinci
Jan 25, 2020·Current Biology : CB·Bryant E WalkerJaan Männik
Feb 2, 2021·ELife·Harsh VashisthaHanna Salman
Dec 3, 2021·ELife·Prathitha KarAriel Amir

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
optical microscopy
chip
electron beam lithography
biopsy
chips
mechanical stress

Software Mentioned

DipImage Toolbox
ImageJ
NIS
Matlab
Elements
DipImage
Matlab Image Analysis Toolbox Signal Processing Toolbox

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