Fabrication of microbial chip using collagen gel microstructure

Abstract

A microbial chip was fabricated by filling the micropores on a glass substrate with collagen-embedded Escherichia coli (E. coli) cells, and characterized by scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) in a solution containing ferricyanide. The activity of the E. coli cells in the collagen gel microstructure was imaged and characterized with SECM by mapping the localized concentration of ferrocyanide produced by the respiration of the cells. The SECM-based activity measurement detected as low as approximately 100 E. coli cells. Furthermore, the optical-microscopic observation indicated that the E. coli cells on the chip proliferated during the incubation. The sequential SECM measurements were performed for the same E. coli chip to obtain the microbial growth curve for a small number of microorganisms.