Raman-based sorting of microbial cells to link functions to their genes

Raman-based sorting of microbial cells to link functions to their genes

Blog Article

In our recent work, we developed an optofluidic platform that allows a direct link to be made between the phenotypes Ball Game (functions) and the genotypes (genes) of microbial cells within natural communities.By combining stable isotope probing, optical tweezers, Raman microspectroscopy, and microfluidics, the platform performs automated Raman-based sorting of taxa from within a complex community in terms of their functional properties.In comparison with manual sorting approaches, our method provides high throughput (up to 500 cells per hour) and very high sorting accuracy (98.3 ± 1.7%), and significantly reduces the human labour required.

The system provides an efficient manner to untangle the contributions of individual members within environmental and host-associated microbiomes.In this News and Thoughts, we provide an overview of our platform, describe potential applications, suggest ways in which the system could be improved, and discuss future directions in which Raman-based Eyebrow Enhancer analysis of microbial populations might be developed.