Single Cell Isolation of Bacteria from Microbial Fuel Cells and Potomac River Sediment

Abstract

AbstractElectrochemically active bacteria (EAB) are prominently found in aquatic environmental sediment samples and wastewater streams, which are known to contain several different types of microorganisms. Even though microbial consortia are found to enhance both Coulombic efficiency and total power output in microbial fuel cells (MFCs), it is currently unknown how many different EAB contribute to current generation in these systems. It is also difficult to track the relative population of different species during MFC operation. We used biological laser printing (BioLP) to isolate different bacterium from complex environmental samples and MFC anolytes. BioLP can be used to print droplets containing a single cell directly from liquid culture, thereby enabling EAB to be sorted from unmodified environmental or MFC samples. Isolated species were identified through 16S rDNA analysis of pure cultures derived from the printed samples. These experiments demonstrate how cell printing can be used as a single‐step method to separate and identify microorganisms from complex environmental samples and operating MFCs.