JoVE Logo

Sign In

Abstract

Bioengineering

3D Printing Bacteria to Study Motility and Growth in Complex 3D Porous Media

Published: January 19th, 2024

DOI:

10.3791/66166

1Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, 2Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University

Abstract

Bacteria are ubiquitous in complex three-dimensional (3D) porous environments, such as biological tissues and gels, and subsurface soils and sediments. However, the majority of previous work has focused on studies of cells in bulk liquids or at flat surfaces, which do not fully recapitulate the complexity of many natural bacterial habitats. Here, this gap in knowledge is addressed by describing the development of a method to 3D-print dense colonies of bacteria into jammed granular hydrogel matrices. These matrices have tunable pore sizes and mechanical properties; they physically confine the cells, thus supporting them in 3D. They are optically transparent, allowing for direct visualization of bacterial spreading through their surroundings using imaging. As a proof of this principle, here, the capability of this protocol is demonstrated by 3D printing and imaging non-motile and motile Vibro cholerae, as well as non-motile Escherichia coli, in jammed granular hydrogel matrices with varying interstitial pore sizes.

Explore More Videos

Keywords 3D Printing

This article has been published

Video Coming Soon

JoVE Logo

Privacy

Terms of Use

Policies

Research

Education

ABOUT JoVE

Copyright © 2024 MyJoVE Corporation. All rights reserved