title: A practical optical trap for manipulating and isolating bacteria from complex microbial communities.
abstract: A wide variety of naturally occurring bacteria cannot be isolated by classical microbiological methods, hindering study of microbial communities. To partially remove this limitation, a method using optical trapping was developed. It allows for one-step isolation of bacteria from a complex community to a pure culture. The method transfers a single bacterium to sterile culture medium using a non-destructive laser beam. The ease with which a previously unculturable cell was cultured by trapping suggests that competition may limit growth in some natural communities of bacteria.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, GPO 2100, 5001, Adelaide, Australia.
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Weller
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beconi
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sell
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Holland