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Fluorescence-activated droplet sorting of lipolytic microorganisms using a compact optical system
Yuxin Qiao1, Xiaoyan Zhao, Jun Zhu
1State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China. wenbin@im.ac.cn.
Lab on a Chip
|December 12, 2017
Summary
Researchers developed a rapid screening method for lipase-producing microbes using fluorescence-activated droplet sorting (FADS). This ultra-high throughput pipeline efficiently identifies novel enzymes from diverse environmental samples.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Enzyme Discovery
- Microbiology
Background:
- Lipases are vital enzymes with broad industrial applications.
- Environmental microorganisms are key sources for novel lipase discovery.
- Current screening methods are inefficient and labor-intensive.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop an ultra-high throughput screening pipeline for lipase-producing strains.
- To utilize fluorescence-activated droplet sorting (FADS) for efficient enzyme discovery.
- To identify novel lipase-producing bacteria from diverse environmental sources.
Main Methods:
- Development of a FADS-based pipeline for ultra-high throughput screening.
- Incorporation of droplet generation, incubation, and picoinjection of fluorescence probes.
- Screening of environmental samples from hot springs, wetlands, oilfields, and Daqu starters.
Main Results:
- Successful implementation of a FADS pipeline with a throughput of 2 × 10^6 drops/h.
- Identification of 47 lipase-producing bacterial strains.
- Isolation of strains from seven genera, including Staphylococcus, Bacillus, and Acinetobacter.
Conclusions:
- The developed FADS pipeline offers an efficient and high-throughput method for enzyme screening.
- This approach can be extended to discover various enzymes from environmental samples.
- The pipeline has potential applications in industrial microorganism breeding.
