TY  - JOUR
TI  - Microfluidics-Based Analysis of Contact-dependent Bacterial Interactions
AU  - Cooper, Robert 
AU  - Tsimring, Lev 
AU  - Hasty, Jeff 
VL  - 8
IS  - 16
PY  - 2018
DA  - 2018/08/20
SP  - e2970
C1  - Bio-protocol 2018;8:e2970
DO  - 10.21769/BioProtoc.2970
UR  - https://doi.org/10.21769/BioProtoc.2970
AB  - Bacteria in nature live in complex communities with multiple cell types and spatially-dependent interactions. Studying cells in well-mixed environments such as shaking culture tubes or flasks cannot capture these spatial dynamics, but cells growing in full-fledged biofilms are difficult to observe in real time. We present here a protocol for observing time-resolved, multi-species interactions at single-cell resolution. The protocol involves growing bacterial cells in a near monolayer in a microfluidic device. As a demonstration, we describe in particular observing the dynamic interactions between E. coli and Acinetobacter baylyi. In this case, the protocol is capable of observing both contact-dependent lysis of E. coli by A. baylyi via the Type VI Secretion System (T6SS) and subsequent functional horizontal gene transfer (HGT) of genes from E. coli to A. baylyi.
KW  - Microfluidics
KW  - Horizontal gene transfer (HGT)
KW  - Type VI secretion system (T6SS)
KW  - Natural competence
KW  - Antibiotic resistance
KW  - Acinetobacter
KW  - Biofilm
KW  - Microbial ecology
JF  - Bio-protocol
SN  - 2331-8325
PB  - Bio-protocol LLC.
BIO101  - False