Elucidating the mechanism of bacteria-mediated oil degradation by imaging biofilm formation on oil drops in microfluidic traps

我们已经研究了细胞附着和液滴上生物膜形成的早期阶段。我们已经将界面上附着在表面的细胞之间的运动联系起来。我们在液滴表面发现了清晰的细胞液晶排列，这表明生物膜是有弹性的。为了进一步帮助我们的界面成像，我们构建了一组荧光和缺失突变菌株。我们的结构性绿色荧光蛋白(GFP)和mCherry(红色荧光蛋白)表达细胞在整个过程中促进了对油水界面的成像。此外，我们还测量和分析了细胞及其条件成分的界面性质，发现细胞在油中培养的时间越长，其疏水性越强，并发展了产生表面变化的能力。此外，我们还对不同条件下培养的WT进行了RNA测序测试，并鉴定了一些与石油消耗有关的基因。我们目前正在测试缺失突变体，看看能否确定我们所看到的变化的遗传基础。我们还完成了一份描述我们结果的手稿，并已将其上传到BioRxiv并提交。我们目前正在进行同行审查进程。

We have investigated cell attachment and early stages of biofilm formation on drops. We have correlated motion between surface-attached cells on the interface. We have found clear liquid crystal ordering of cells on drop surfaces, which indicates that the biofilm is elastic. Further aiding in our interfacial imaging, we have constructed a set of fluorescent and deletion mutant strains. Our constitutive green fluorescent protein (GFP) and mCherry (red fluorescent protein) expressing cells have facilitated imaging of the oil-water interface throughout the process. Moreover, we have measured and analyzed the interfacial properties of the cells and their conditioned components, finding that the cells are more hydrophobic the longer they are cultured using oil and that they develop the ability to enact surface changes.In addition, we have completed RNA-sequencing tests on WT cultured under different conditions and have identified a number of genes that are important for oil consumption. We are currently testing the deletion mutants to see if we can determine the genetic basis of the changes we see.We have also completed a manuscript that describes our results and have uploaded it to the bioRxiv and have submitted it. We are currently undergoing the peer-review process.