Deployable micro-traps to sequester motile bacteria.

ABSTRACT: The development of strategies to reduce the load of unwanted bacteria is a fundamental challenge in industrial processing, environmental sciences and medical applications. Here, we report a new method to sequester motile bacteria from a liquid, based on passive, deployable micro-traps that confine bacteria using micro-funnels that open into trapping chambers. Even in low concentrations, micro-traps afford a 70% reduction in the amount of bacteria in a liquid sample, with a potential to reach >90% as shown by modelling improved geometries. This work introduces a new approach to contain the growth of bacteria without chemical means, an advantage of particular importance given the alarming growth of pan-drug-resistant bacteria.

SUBMITTER: Di Giacomo R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5381207 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature