Microfabrication of a micron-scale microbial-domestication pod for cultivation of marine bacteria.

Through the hyphenation of microfabrication, microfluidics and microbiology, we report the development of a μMicrobial-Domestication Pod (μMD Pod). This cultivation device facilitates cell signaling from neighbouring species and interactions with environmental stimuli for marine bacterial growth to overcome current barriers faced by standard laboratory cultivation methods.

Development of a microbe domestication pod (MD Pod) for in situ cultivation of micro-encapsulated marine bacteria.

Microbial marine natural products hold significant potential for the discovery of new bioactive therapeutics such as antibiotics. Unfortunately, this discovery is hindered by the inability to culture the majority of microbes using traditional laboratory approaches. While many new methods have been developed to increase cultivability, a high-throughput in situ incubation chamber capable of simultaneously isolating individual microbes while allowing cellular communication has not previously been reported.