Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich, Laura-Hezner-Weg 7, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland.
Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Lab Chip. 2024 Feb 27;24(5):1394-1418. doi: 10.1039/d3lc00784g.
Microbial life is at the heart of many diverse environments and regulates most natural processes, from the functioning of animal organs to the cycling of global carbon. Yet, the study of microbial ecology is often limited by challenges in visualizing microbial processes and replicating the environmental conditions under which they unfold. Microfluidics operates at the characteristic scale at which microorganisms live and perform their functions, thus allowing for the observation and quantification of behaviors such as growth, motility, and responses to external cues, often with greater detail than classical techniques. By enabling a high degree of control in space and time of environmental conditions such as nutrient gradients, pH levels, and fluid flow patterns, microfluidics further provides the opportunity to study microbial processes in conditions that mimic the natural settings harboring microbial life. In this review, we describe how recent applications of microfluidic systems to microbial ecology have enriched our understanding of microbial life and microbial communities. We highlight discoveries enabled by microfluidic approaches ranging from single-cell behaviors to the functioning of multi-cellular communities, and we indicate potential future opportunities to use microfluidics to further advance our understanding of microbial processes and their implications.
微生物生命是许多不同环境的核心，调节着从动物器官的功能到全球碳循环等大多数自然过程。然而，微生物生态学的研究常常受到可视化微生物过程和复制其展开环境条件的挑战的限制。微流控技术在微生物生活和发挥功能的特征尺度上运作，从而可以观察和量化生长、运动和对外界刺激的反应等行为，其细节通常比经典技术更为详细。通过在空间和时间上高度控制营养梯度、pH 值和流体流动模式等环境条件，微流控技术进一步提供了在模拟微生物生命栖息的自然环境中研究微生物过程的机会。在这篇综述中，我们描述了微流控系统在微生物生态学中的最新应用如何丰富我们对微生物生命和微生物群落的理解。我们强调了微流控方法从单细胞行为到多细胞群落功能的发现，指出了未来利用微流控技术进一步推进我们对微生物过程及其影响的理解的潜在机会。
