BAFFLE: A 3D Printable Device for Macroscopic Quantification of Fluorescent Bacteria in Space and Time

Abstract

Despite the ubiquity and importance of microbial communities, understanding the population dynamics of mixed cultures in structured environments remains a fundamental problem in microbial ecology. Identifying bacterial strains within a complex microbial community represents a challenging technical problem. We describe a low-cost optomechanical device designed to acquire multi-channel time-lapse images of bacterial colonies growing in agar plates. This device uses a system of addressable LEDs and fluorescence filters to estimate the spatio-temporal distribution of different fluorescently-tagged cells from time-lapse images obtained using a standard DSLR camera with a macro lens. We demonstrate the potential of this device with a range of applications from experimental microbiology. <strong>METADATA OVERVIEW</strong> Main design files: <a href="https://github.com/ccg-esb-lab/baffle" target="_blank">https://github.com/ccg-esb-lab/baffle</a> DOI archive: <a href="https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6960207" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6960207</a> Building instructions: <a href="https://www.penamiller.com/lab/baffle" target="_blank">https://www.penamiller.com/lab/baffle</a> Scripts to produce figures: <a href="https://github.com/ccg-esb-lab/BAFFLE/tree/master/macros" target="_blank">https://github.com/ccg-esb-lab/BAFFLE/tree/master/macros</a> Raw data needed to produce figures: <a href="https://github.com/ccg-esb-lab/BAFFLE/tree/master/data" target="_blank">https://github.com/ccg-esb-lab/BAFFLE/tree/master/data</a> Target group: school or academic staff, NGOs and scientific staff. Skills required for building the device: 3D printing – intermediate; mechanical assembly – intermediate; electrical assembly – intermediate. Replication: No builds known to the authors so far.