Aqueous two-phase system technology for patterning bacterial communities and biofilms

Abstract

We describe a novel method which makes use of polymer-based aqueous two-phase systems to pattern bacterial communities inside Petri dishes. This method allows us to culture submillimeter-sized bacterial communities in spatially distinct spots while maintaining a degree of chemical connectedness to each other through the aqueous phase. Given sufficient time, these bacterial cultures develop biofilms, each corresponding to the footprint of the droplet spot. This method can be used to study the interactions between bacterial communities and biofilms spotted adjacent to each other. Furthermore, it can be extended to study the interactions between different bacterial communities and an underlying epithelial cell layer.