Real-time monitoring of quorum sensing in 3D-printed bacterial aggregates using scanning electrochemical microscopy
Abstract
Bacteria commonly reside in vivo as communities comprised of small, densely packed aggregates. Aggregates display important phenotypes, including enhanced antibiotic resistance, and recent evidence suggests that chemical interactions between aggregates are critical in human-associated microbial communities. However, studying aggregates is challenging because of the inability to confine and spatially organize small microbial populations. Here, we interface two analytical technologies, micro-3D printing and scanning electrochemical microscopy, to develop an in vitro platform with the capacity to manipulate the size and spatial arrangement of bacterial aggregates and quantify chemical interactions between aggregates in real time. We show that a quorum-sensing metabolite is produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa aggregates containing as few as 500 cells and determine how spatial structure impacts communication between neighboring aggregates.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Dec 08, 2014
- Source ID
- 10.1073/pnas.1421211111
Entities
People
- Allen J. Bard
- Jason B. Shear
- Jiyeon Kim
- Jodi L. Connell
- Marvin Whiteley
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Army Research Office
- University of Texas at Austin