常压室温等离子体诱变育种与微生物液滴培养筛选技术应用进展

安全和高效的微生物突变及高通量筛选技术是微生物功能发掘、功能创制和生物产业技术创新的重要方向及重要支撑。有效的生物育种技术及高通量筛选技术成为该领域研究人员的关注点。其中,常压室温等离子体(atmospheric and room temperature plasma,ARTP)因具有活性粒子种类多、操作可控性强、基因损伤强度高、诱变速度快、操作条件温和、安全性高等特点,已用于100余种微生物和动植物的诱变育种,成为微生物的高效育种新方法。微生物液滴培养(microbial microdroplet culture,MMC)可以快速生成大量微液滴并可实现独立控制单个液滴,每个液滴都可以作为独立的单元进行微生物培养,具有容量小、高通量、模块化、可操作性良好并可进行在线检测等特点,为面向微生物菌种高效选育的进化培养和筛选提供了高通量筛选平台,因此在微生物的高通量培养方面具有独特的应用优势。本文总结了近年来常压室温等离子体诱变技术在食药用真菌育种以及微生物液滴培养在微生物高通量分析分选领域的应用进展,以期为食药用真菌的育种领域提供借鉴和参考。     

液滴微流控芯片系统中微液滴特性表征及氨基酸检测应用

基于液滴微流控芯片的检测和筛选系统,因其具有通量高、成本低等显著特点,近年来备受关注。该系统生成的微液滴(皮升体积)具有直径均一、大小可控、互不交融(单分散性)等特性,它作为微反应器可以进行微生物及其代谢物包埋实验和高通量检测。因此,研究微液滴的相关特性及其应用具有重要意义。文中在液滴微流控芯片系统搭建的基础上,对重要氨基酸(谷氨酸、苯丙氨酸、色氨酸和酪氨酸)分别进行了微液滴包埋实验,研究了包埋微液滴的重要特性参数(如稳定性、扩散性等),探索了包埋微液滴对氨基酸检测分选的应用。实验表明,文中搭建的液滴微流控芯片系统可以稳定、均一地生成微液滴,微液滴大小可根据需要控制在2 0-5 0μm之间,微液滴间无交叉污染,包埋氨基酸的微液滴的检测筛选速度大约为每分钟6 0 0个。这个研究为高通量分析和筛选产氨基酸的微生物奠定了基础。     

基于液滴微流控的细胞凝胶微球研究进展

液滴微流控技术在微纳米尺度上对多种流体的流动进行精确控制,从而能够以高通量的方式生成结构可调和成分可控的微纳米液滴。通过结合合适的水凝胶材料和制造方法,可以将单个或多个细胞高效地封装进水凝胶中,制备细胞凝胶微球。细胞凝胶微球可以为细胞的增殖、分化等提供一个三维的、相对独立可控的微环境,在三维细胞培养、组织工程与再生医学、干细胞研究和单细胞研究等生命科学领域具有重要价值。本文主要综述了基于液滴微流控技术的细胞凝胶微球的制备及其在生物医学领域的应用,并对未来的研究工作提出了展望。     

单细胞分选技术在微生物分离与培养中的应用与展望

自然界相当多的微生物是未培养的,对这些"微生物界暗物质"进行研究,对于研究微生物的进化过程,充分利用微生物资源具有重要意义。对未培养微生物的分离与培养已成为当前国际研究热点,本文对显微操作、荧光活化分选、微流控分选、光镊技术、激光诱导向前转移等可用于微生物分离与培养的技术原理、发展历程进行简单介绍,对比分析了每种分选技术的优点与不足,重点阐述了激光诱导向前转移技术应用于微生物分离的技术优势,并进一步对未来应用于未培养微生物的研究进行了初步展望。     

微流控芯片技术在肺部炎性疾病研究和诊断中的进展

微流控芯片技术是指一种将生物、化学等诸多领域的样品从制备、反应到分离检测等多种操作单元高度集成在一块芯片上的技术,由网络状微通道构成,可以通过流体操控整个系统。相比构建模型的传统方法, 具有便携性、高通量、可模拟在体微环境等优势,在研究疾病的诊断、发病机理研究以及药物筛选等方面有着广阔的应用前景。肺部炎性疾病是临床常见的多发病,通常由于细菌、病毒、真菌感染引起。早期肺炎常缺乏明显的呼吸系统症状且症状多不典型,但病情进展快,难以诊断。近年来,微流控芯片技术已经逐渐用于肺部炎性疾病的研究中。尤其是可以再现人肺泡毛细血管界面 (即活肺的基本功能单元) 的关键结构、功能和机械性质的“芯片肺”模型的应用,很好地在体外呈现了肺泡-毛细血管界面模型的生理相关性。相比细胞和动物模型,这种多功能微实验平台具有非常大的优势。文中针对微流控芯片技术在肺部炎性疾病研究和诊断中的进展进行了综述,旨在为肺部炎性疾病的研究和诊断提供新思路。     

基于微流控的生物被膜研究进展及口腔微生态系统应用展望

口腔是人体最重要的微生物储藏库之一,这些微生物通常以生物被膜的形式稳定地黏附于口腔内粘膜及牙齿表面,在病理条件下则可以深入髓腔及牙槽骨内,成为龋病、根尖周炎、牙周病等常见口腔疾病的主要病因,甚至与许多全身性疾病密切相关。在人类口腔微生态系统中,微生物种类繁多,生物被膜的构成及相互作用关系复杂,目前对其认识还十分有限;此外,在宿主免疫、口腔内外多种理化因素的调控下,生物被膜还可以出现不同的表型及生物特性,因此对其致病机制的研究也具有挑战性。微流控技术作为一种能够灵活操控微尺度流体的技术,不仅能够精准模拟理化微环境,还能够进行高通量可视化的分析,在生命分析化学及生物被膜的研究方面已经展现出显著优势,在口腔微生态系统研究中具有广阔的应用前景。本文将回顾近期微流控技术在生物被膜方面的研究进展,并结合口腔微生态系统中生物被膜研究的关键问题对微流控技术的应用做系统阐述和展望。     

基于微流控技术的微生物细胞梯度稀释分离方法

随着微流控分析技术的快速发展,集成化的微流控芯片在满足实验高通量的同时,还在微生物细胞分离领域呈现出独特的优势。本研究基于微流控技术,制备了以聚二甲基硅氧烷(PDMS)、玻片为材料的细菌细胞梯度稀释分离芯片。该芯片的核心是通过一系列复杂的梯度网络来实现对细菌悬液的连续稀释,最终被分离的细菌细胞进入通道末端的存储孔内。结果显示,该方法能分离出的最少细菌细胞数低于10个。此芯片平台操作简单、耗时短、成本低,为微生物单细胞研究提供了新的途径。     

毕赤酵母液滴微流控高通量筛选方法的建立与应用

巴斯德毕赤酵母是当前应用最为方便和广泛的外源蛋白表达系统之一,为了进一步提高其表达外源蛋白的能力,文中建立了基于液滴微流控的毕赤酵母高通量筛选方法,并以木聚糖酶融合荧光蛋白为例,筛选获得木聚糖酶表达和分泌能力提高的突变株。通过PCR扩增得到木聚糖酶xyn5基因和绿色荧光蛋白gfp基因融合片段,并克隆到毕赤酵母表达载体pPIC9K中构建出木聚糖酶融合绿色荧光蛋白的质粒pPIC9K-xyn5-gfp,电转化至毕赤酵母GS115中得到表达木聚糖酶和绿色荧光蛋白的毕赤酵母SG菌株。该菌株经过常压室温等离子体诱变后进行单细胞液滴包埋,液滴培养24h后进行微流控筛选,获得高表达木聚糖酶的突变菌株,进而用于下一轮的诱变突变库构建和筛选。以此类推,经过5轮液滴微流控筛选,获得一株高产菌株SG-m5,其木聚糖酶活为149.17U/mg,较出发菌株提升300%,分泌外源蛋白的能力较出发菌株提高160%。文中建立的毕赤酵母单细胞液滴微流控高通量筛选方法能达到每小时10万菌株的筛选通量,筛选百万级别的菌株库仅需10h,消耗荧光试剂体积100μL,对比传统的微孔板筛选方法降低试剂成本近百万倍,为高效、低成本筛选获得表达和分泌外源蛋白能力提高的毕赤酵母提供了一条新途径。     

微流控芯片在水环境污染分析中的应用

近年来,一种新型技术——微流控芯片技术因其分析速度快、消耗低、体积小、操作简单等特点而备受世界各国的广泛重视.该技术以微通道网络为基本特征,以微机电系统(MEMS)工艺为技术依托,将整个实验室的功能集成在微小芯片上,即构成所谓“芯片实验室”.本文从该技术的基本情况出发,介绍了微流控芯片的发展,并从仪器小型化、系统集成化、不同的芯片材料以及多种检测技术等方面,着重讨论了其在水环境污染分析方面的实际应用和发展前景,指出了它当前所面临的一些问题.随着微流控芯片的不断发展,高速多通道检测装置、低成本设备以及集成了多种方法的高通用性微流控检测芯片,都将成为未来研究的热点.     

未培养环境微生物培养方法的研究进展

自然界中微生物种类繁多、功能多样、分布广泛,对人类健康安全、生态稳定和物种进化等发挥不可替代的作用。尽管微生物培养技术至今已有一百多年,然而由于各种限制因素的制约,目前成功分离培养的微生物仅占0.1%-1.0%,自然界中仍有十分丰富的微生物资源有待挖掘和开发利用。如何理解难培养微生物的制约因素并探索作用机制,同时借此开发新型微生物培养方法则尤为必要。本文首先分析了典型环境微生物生长的限制因素,然后介绍了目前利用传统培养改进措施进行分离筛选的研究成果,进一步综述了原位培养、共培养、微流控培养技术、细胞分选技术等新型培养技术在难培养微生物分离培养中的应用,最后对目前培养法存在的瓶颈问题进行深入分析,提出今后可在多技术联合使用、难培养微生物复苏机制、微生物互作机制、代谢途径与调控机制等方面进行研究,以期为今后微生物资源开发利用提供借鉴。     

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Conventional microbial cell cultivation techniques are typically labor intensive, low throughput, and poorlyparallelized, rendering them inefficient. The development of automated, modular microbial cell micro-cultivation systems, particularly those employing droplet microfluidics, have gained attention for their high-throughput, highly paralellized and efficient cultivation capabilities. Here, we report the development of a microbial microdroplet culture system (MMC), which is an integrated platform for automated, high-throughput cultivation and adaptive evolution of microorganisms. We demonstrated that the MMC yielded both accurate and reproducible results for the manipulation and detection of droplets. The superior performance of MMC for microbial cell cultivation was validated by comparing the growth curves of six microbial strains grown in MMC, conventional shake flasks or well plates. The highest incipient growth rate for all six microbial strains was achieved by using MMC. We also conducted an 18-day process of adaptive evolution of methanol-essential Escherichia coli strain in MMC and obtained two strains exhibiting higher growth rates compared with the parent strain. Our study demonstrates the power of MMC to provide an efficient and reliable approach for automated, high-throughput microbial cultivation and adaptive evolution.     

抗菌活性放线菌的界面微滴移液互作分离筛选方法

【背景】放线菌是天然产物的宝库,目前应用于临床的天然抗生素有70%来源于放线菌的次级代谢产物。随着细菌对传统抗生素耐药问题的日趋严重,如何从自然生境中高效筛选新型活性放线菌资源并发现新型抗生素成为当前微生物学者面临的重要挑战。通过传统方法筛选活性放线菌不仅费时费力、试剂耗材消耗量大,并且筛选通量非常有限,难以对自然样品中的复杂微生物群落进行整体全面的解析。【目的】提出一种基于多孔板液滴阵列培养的新策略,可高通量筛选抗菌活性放线菌。分析模式放线菌在微液滴中的培养特征与筛选条件,为进一步建立基于液滴阵列技术的超高通量活性放线菌筛选平台奠定基础。【方法】采用界面移液技术,将传统的多孔板高通量筛选体系微缩至1μL水平,在油相填充的多孔板(96孔板)中生成微升培养液滴阵列,每个微孔液滴中封装一个放线菌孢子或菌丝团。经过短期培养,放线菌在微滴中完成菌丝分化与次级代谢产物的分泌。这时,通过第二步界面移液技术与液滴融合加入带有荧光标记的指示菌,通过全菌拮抗筛选定位活性目标菌株,并将活性谱转化为量化的荧光数值。【结果】通过对模式放线菌的测试发现,放线菌菌丝可以在微液滴中达到最佳培养状态,并积累足够的生物质与代谢物,对荧光指示菌有明显的抑制作用。【结论】通过建立上述基于微孔板液滴阵列的高通量筛选技术,能从单细胞水平快速筛选出具有抑菌活性的菌株,显著节约了筛选成本并提高了筛选通量,为新型活性天然产物的发现提供了一种新的简单有效的筛选方法。     

Electrochemical mutagen screening using microbial chip

Electrochemical microbial chip for mutagen screening were microfabricated and characterized by scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM). Salmonella typhimurium TA1535 with a plasmid pSK1002 carrying a umuC'-'lacZ fusion gene was used for the whole cell mutagen sensor. The TA1535/pSK1002 cells were exposed to mutagen solutions containing 2-(2-furyl)-3-(5-nitro-2-furyl)acrylamido (AF-2), mitomycin C (MMC) or 2-aminoanthracene (2-AA) and embedded in a microcavity (5nl) on a glass substrate using collagen gel. The beta-galactosidase expression on the microbial chip was electrochemically monitored using p-aminophenyl-beta-d-galactopyranoside (PAPG) as the enzymatic substrate. This system has several advantages compared with the conventional umu test: drastic reduction of the sample volume, less time-consuming for beta-galactosidase detection (free from substrate reaction time) and lower detection limit for the three mutagens (AF-2, MMC, 2-AA). Finally, a multi-sample assay was carried out using the microbial array chip with four microcavities.     

常温常压等离子体诱变选育高产L-异亮氨酸大肠杆菌

旨在选育L-异亮氨酸高产大肠杆菌.以大肠杆菌K12(Met-)为出发菌株,经常温常压等离子体(ARTP)诱变,通过微生物高通量液滴培养系统(MMC)筛选,以α-氨基丁酸(α-AB)抗性为筛选标记,得到一株高产L-异亮氨酸的突变菌株大肠杆菌NXU12,并对其遗传稳定性进行了研究.结果表明,出发菌株大肠杆菌K12(Met-...     

Synthesis and utilization of E. coli‐encapsulated PEG‐based microdroplet using a microfluidic chip for biological application

We report herein an effective strategy for encapsulating Escherichia coli in polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) microdroplets using a microfluidic device and chemical polymerization. PEGDA was employed as a reactant due to the biocompatibility, high porosity, and hydrophilic property. The uniform size and shape of microdroplets are obtained in a single‐step process using microfluidic device. The size of microdroplets can be controlled through the changing continuous flow rate. The combination of microdroplet generation and chemical polymerization techniques provide unique environment to produce non‐toxic ways of fabricating microorganism‐encapsulated hydrogel microbeads. Due to these unique properties of micro‐sized hydrogel microbeads, the encapsulated E. coli can maintain viability inside of microbeads and green fluorescent protein (GFP) and red fluorescent protein (RFP) genes are efficiently expressed inside of microbeads after isopropyl‐β‐D ‐thiogalactopyranoside induction, suggesting that there is no low‐molecular weight substrate transfer limitation inside of microbeads. Furthermore, non‐toxic, gentle, and outstanding biocompatibility of microbeads, the encapsulated E. coli can be used in various applications including biotransformation, biosensing, bioremediation, and engineering of artificial cells. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2010;107:747–751. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Droplet digital PCR is an accurate method to assess methylation status on FFPE samples

Most tissue samples available for cancer research are archived as formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples. However, the fixation process and the long storage duration lead to DNA fragmentation and hinder epigenome analysis. The use of droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) to detect DNA methylation has recently emerged. In this study, we compare an optimized ddPCR assay with a conventional qPCR assay by targeting a dilution series of control DNA. In addition, we compare the ddPCR technology with results from Infinium arrays targeting two separate CpG sites on a set of colon adenoma FFPE samples. Our data demonstrate that qPCR and ddPCR assess methylation status equally well on dilution controls with a high DNA input. However, the methylation detection on low-input samples is more accurate using ddPCR. The proposed primer design (methylation-independent primers with amplification of solely the converted DNA target) will allow for methylation detection, independent of bisulfite conversion efficiency. Those data show that ddPCR can be used for methylation analysis on FFPE samples with a wide range of DNA input and that the precision of the assay depends largely on the total amount of amplifiable DNA fragments. Due to accessibility of the ddPCR technology and its accuracy on high- as well as low-DNA input samples, we propose the use of this approach for studies involving degraded FFPE samples.     

The comparison of two different embryo culture methods in the course of in vitro fertilization program

The objective of the study was to compare two different embryo culture methods in the course of in vitro fertilization program by means of fertilization rate, embryo development, total time and cost. 98 patients undergoing assisted reproduction procedures due to infertility were analyzed. The inclusion criteria for the study: first IVF-ET program, at least 10 MII oocytes, no indications for ICSI. Oocytes were divided into two study groups: group A- open culture (oocytes placed in four-well dishes together, then inseminated and cultured in successive wells) and group B - a closed culture (oocytes placed in microdroplets, each embryo cultured separately). The fertilization rate was assessed around 18 hours from insemination. The embryos were classified into four classes. The best embryos were chosen for transfer. In the group A the fertilization rate obtained was lower than in group B (68% vs. 78%, respectively). The microdroplet culture required more time on the insemination day and on the second day of culture, while the four-well dish method required more time on the first day of culture and on the day of transfer. On analyzing the total cost of the above procedures (MI medium and oil costs) it occurred that the microdroplet culture was more expensive than the four-well dish method (due to the intake of paraffin oil). However, the difference was of no practical importance. In the conclusion, microdroplet culture gives a higher fertilization rate than four-well dish culture, probably due to a homogenous sperm distribution. Despite the differences in time outside the incubator and laboratory expenses (which are after all insignificant) microdroplet culture allows a better control over the embryo development. The embryos of best developmental potential can therefore be chosen for ET.     

Segregated flux balance analysis constrained by population structure/function data: The case of PHA production by mixed microbial cultures

In this study we developed a segregated flux balance analysis (FBA) method to calculate metabolic flux distributions of the individual populations present in a mixed microbial culture (MMC). Population specific flux data constraints were derived from the raw data typically obtained by the fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and microautoradiography (MAR)‐FISH techniques. This method was applied to study the metabolic heterogeneity of a MMC that produces polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) from fermented sugar cane molasses. Three populations were identified by FISH, namely Paracoccus sp., Thauera sp., and Azoarcus sp. The segregated FBA method predicts a flux distribution for each of the identified populations. The method is shown to predict with high accuracy the average PHA storage flux and the respective monomeric composition for 16 independent experiments. Moreover, flux predictions by segregated FBA were slightly better than those obtained by nonsegregated FBA, and also highly concordant with metabolic flux analysis (MFA) estimated fluxes. The segregated FBA method can be of high value to assess metabolic heterogeneity in MMC systems and to derive more efficient eco‐engineering strategies. For the case of PHA‐producing MMC considered in this work, it becomes apparent that the PHA average monomeric composition might be controlled not only by the volatile fatty acids (VFA) feeding profile but also by the population composition present in the MMC. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2013; 110: 2267–2276. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.