Toward Development of an Autonomous Network of Bacteria-Based Delivery Systems (BacteriaBots): Spatiotemporally High-Throughput Characterization of Bacterial Quorum-Sensing Response.

Characterization of bacterial innate and engineered cooperative behavior, regulated through chemical signaling in a process known as quorum sensing, is critical to development of a myriad of bacteria-enabled systems including biohybrid drug delivery systems and biohybrid mobile sensor networks. Here, we demonstrate, for the first time, that microfluidic diffusive mixers can be used for spatiotemporally high-throughput characterization of bacterial quorum-sensing response. Using this batch characterization method, the quorum-sensing response in Escherichia coli MG 1655, transformed with a truncated lux operon from Vibriofischcri, in the presence of 1-100 nM exogenous acyl-homoserine lactone - molecules has been quantified. This method provides a rapid and facile tool for high-throughput characterization of the quorumsensing response of genetically modified bacteria in the presence of a wide concentration range of signaling molecules with a precision of °0.5 nM. Furthermore, the quorum-sensing response of BacteriaBots has been characterized to determine if the results obtained from a large bacterial population can serve as a robust predictive tool for the small bacterial population attached to each BacteriaBot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]