Conversion Efficiencies of a Few Living Microbial Cells Detected at a High Throughput by Droplet-Based ESI-MS

The label-free and sensitive detection of synthesis products from single microbial cells remains the bottleneck for determining the specific turnover numbers of individual whole-cell biocatalysts. We demonstrate the detection of lysine synthesized by only a few living cells in microfluidic droplets via mass spectrometry. Biocatalyst turnover numbers were analyzed using rationally designed reaction environments compatible with mass spectrometry, which were decoupled from cell growth and showed high specific turnover rates (∼1 fmol/(cell h)), high conversion yields (25%), and long-term catalyst stability (>14h). The heterogeneity of the cellular reactivity of only 15 ± 5 single biocatalysts per droplet could be demonstrated for the first time by parallelizing the droplet incubation. These results enable the resolution of biocatalysis beyond averages of populations. This is a key step toward quantifying specific reactivities of single cells as minimal functional catalytic units.