Emerging single-cell microfluidic technology for microbiology
TRAC-TRENDS IN ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY(2024)
Abstract
Cell-to-cell differences exist ubiquitously in microbial communities. This individual heterogeneity, often manifested in cell phenotypic function (e.g., antibiotic resistance), can be critical in determining the fate of a microbial community. However, studying such heterogeneity in microbial communities remains a significant challenge due to their enormous diversity and complex cell-cell interactions. Here we review recent advances in microfluidic technologies for detecting, manipulating, and sorting microbial populations at the single-cell level, which significantly advanced our understanding of microbial behaviour and their roles in the microbial ecosystem. We will highlight microfluidic systems with label-free detection methods, including optical imaging and Raman spectroscopy, due to their advantages in investigating real-world microbial communities. We will showcase these technologies in emerging applications, including rapid diagnosis of pathogens and antibiotic resistance, chemotaxis, and Raman-activated cell sorting to search for natural microbial cells of desirable phenotypic function.
MoreTranslated text
Key words
Single-cell microfluidics,Microbial communities,Raman spectroscopy,Antibiotic resistance,Droplet microfluidics
AI Read Science
Must-Reading Tree
Example
![](https://originalfileserver.aminer.cn/sys/aminer/pubs/mrt_preview.jpeg)
Generate MRT to find the research sequence of this paper
Chat Paper
Summary is being generated by the instructions you defined