We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Novel droplet-based approach for investigating bacterial biofilm formation on microplastic
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers developed a droplet-based microfluidic approach to study bacterial biofilm formation on microplastics, enabling high-throughput analysis of how plastic surfaces promote biofilm growth. The method revealed that microplastics support biofilm formation that can harbor antibiotic-resistant bacteria, linking plastic pollution to antimicrobial resistance concerns.
One of several key threats associated with the increasing global plastic pollution is plastics ability to aid microorganisms in biofilm formation [1][2]. Biofilms promote development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), one of the most pressing health concerns in our society [3]. However, despite the urgency, there are still many knowledge gaps. One such aspect still poorly understood is how microplastic effects biofilm formation [4]. This is due to the difficulty of studying such small particles [4]. Using droplet-based technology could provide an excellent solution, as it allows compartmentalization of study material into hundreds of thousands of nano-and picolitre droplets that can be incubated and analyzed via different methods [5]. We show that our user-friendly droplet-based emulsion pipeline can be used to investigate microplastic modulation of AMR and potential biofilm formation. We generated monodisperse water-in-oil droplets with using a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) microfluidic chip with flow-focusing geometry. We performed single cell-based (droplet) minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) assays with GFP-labelled Escherichia coli and antibiotics Cefotaxime and Kanamycin respectively. Each droplet MIC assay contained samples with and without added 10 µm carboxylated polystyrene microspheres. Droplets were incubated for 24h at 37oC, followed by fluorescence imaging of droplet monolayer and analysis via software Ilastik [6] and CellProfiler[7]. Results showed that our droplet-based emulsion pipeline enables (i) identifying microplastic inside nanoliter droplets, (ii) studying potential antibiotic specific susceptibility of bacteria, and (iii) investigate possible early biofilm formation (autoaggragation of bacteria) trends. Our pipeline moreover allowed conducting experiments with thousands of parallel replicates. References [1] doi: 10.1007/s44169-023-00035-z. [2] doi: 10.1016/j.hazadv.2022.100077. [3] doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1004264 [4] doi: 10.3389/FMICB.2021.603967/BIBTEX. [5] doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.9b05047. [6] doi: 10.1038/s41592-019-0582-9. [7] doi: 10.1186/gb-2006-7-10-r100. Also see: https://micro2024.sciencesconf.org/553221/document
More Papers Like This
Novel droplet-based approach for investigating bacterial biofilm formation on microplastic
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers developed a droplet-based microfluidic approach to study bacterial biofilm formation on microplastic surfaces, enabling high-throughput screening of how different polymer types and surface conditions influence plastisphere community development.
Droplet-Based Technology for Studying the Phenotypic Effect of Microplastics on Antimicrobial Resistance
AI summary Read the abstract
This study used droplet-based microfluidic technology to investigate the phenotypic effects of microplastics on individual cells or organisms at high throughput. Droplet microfluidics enables rapid screening of how different microplastic concentrations and types affect biological responses at the cellular level.
High-throughput bacterial aggregation analysis in droplets
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers developed a high-throughput microfluidic droplet platform for studying bacterial aggregation, combining droplet-based culture with image analysis for automated characterization of aggregation dynamics. The system provided rapid, standardized measurement of bacterial clustering behavior, offering a tool relevant to microplastic biofilm formation and plastisphere ecology studies.
Developing an optimized method for biofilm extraction from microplastic surfaces for high-efficiency analysis of adherent bacterial communities
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers developed an optimized biofilm extraction protocol for microplastic surfaces that enables high-efficiency, quantitative analysis of adherent bacterial communities, bridging a methodological gap in understanding microplastics as biological reservoirs and providing regulators with reliable data for evidence-based water-quality guidelines.
New insight into the effect of microplastics on antibiotic resistance and bacterial community of biofilm
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers found that different types of microplastics promote distinct biofilm communities and enhance antibiotic resistance gene proliferation compared to natural substrates, suggesting microplastics serve as unique platforms for the spread of antimicrobial resistance.
Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.