title: Culture and motion analysis of diatom Bacillaria paradoxa on a microfluidic platform.
abstract: We proved the feasibility of using a microfluidic chip to culture diatom Bacillaria paradoxa, and analyzed the gliding characteristics of its self-organized colony in detail. The optimal cultivation parameters of B. paradoxa for the designed chip made with polydimethylsiloxane are as follows: the preferable cells injecting rate for keeping the cells alive is 0.2 mL/h, the initial cell density for fast reproduction is 5.5 × 10(4) cells/mL, and the optimal replacement period of culture medium is 4 days. B. paradoxa tends to form a colony during their growth, and the colony can glide with a steady period of 29 ± 3 s along its axial direction in a constant stream, the amplitude of the colony will not decay (e.g., 24 μm of two-cell colony at 1.1 mm/s flow rate), and the colony rapidly adjusts its direction of gliding to the direction of water flow. The successful culture of diatoms on a microfluidic platform may be used for biosensing chips and the creation of gasoline-producing diatom solar panels.
authors.affiliation: Bionic and Micro/Nano/Bio Manufacturing Technology Research Center, School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Beihang University, No. 37 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, People's Republic of China, jun_cai@buaa.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Mingli
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Junfeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Aobo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Deyuan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D017377:Diatoms / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D008828:Microbiological Techniques / Q000379:methods; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000379:methods*; D009038:Motion