High-Throughput Identification and Screening of Single Microbial Cells by Nanobowl Array

Abstract

High-throughput screening and fast identification of single bacterial cells are crucial for clinical diagnosis, bioengineering, and fermentation engineering. Although single-cell technologies have been developed extensively in recent years, the single-cell technologies for bacteria still need further exploration. In this study, we demonstrate an identification and screening technology for single bacterial cells based on a large-scale nanobowl array, which is well-ordered and size-adjustable for use with different kinds of bacteria. When the culture medium with monodispersed bacteria was placed on the nanobowl array, it successfully enabled loading of single bacterium into a single nanobowl. Because of the limitative size and depth of the nanobowls, mixture of different bacteria species could be screened according to their sizes. In addition, with the help of a low electrical current, the bacteria can be further screened according to their intrinsic surface charges. If combined with micromanipulation technology, high-throughput single bacterial selection can be achieved in future.