
Open access
Date
2020-03Type
- Journal Article
Abstract
In our recent work, we developed an optofluidic plat-form that allows a direct link to be made between the phenotypes (functions) and the genotypes (genes) of microbial cells within natural communities. By combin-ing 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 sort-ing approaches, our method provides high throughput (up to 500 cells per hour) and very high sorting accura-cy (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 appli-cations, suggest ways in which the system could be improved, and discuss future directions in which Ra-man-based analysis of microbial populations might be developed. Show more
Permanent link
https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000450316Publication status
publishedExternal links
Journal / series
Microbial CellVolume
Pages / Article No.
Publisher
Shared Science PublishersOrganisational unit
09467 - Stocker, Roman / Stocker, Roman
02205 - FIRST-Lab / FIRST Center for Micro- and Nanoscience
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