Microfluidic positioning of pollen grains in lab-on-a-chip for single cell analysis.
A lab-on-a-chip device with a knot shaped microfluidic network is presented to enable trapping of single pollen grains at the entrances of a series of microchannels. This set-up serves to create identical growth conditions for serially arranged tip growing plant cells such as pollen tubes. The design consists of an inlet to introduce the pollen suspension into the chip, three outlets to evacuate excess medium or cells, a distribution chamber to guide the pollen grains toward the growth microchannels and a serial arrangement of microchannels with different geometries connected to the distribution chamber. These microchannels are to harbor the individual pollen tubes. Two different criteria were established to assess the efficiency and optimize the device: trapping probability and uniformity of fluid flow conditions within the microchannels. The performance of different geometries of the microfluidic network was numerically analyzed and experimentally tested.
Optical-Bio Microsystems Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Concordia University, Montréal, QC H3G 1M8, Canada.
Mahmood
M
Ghanbari
Optical-Bio Microsystems Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Concordia University, Montréal, QC H3G 1M8, Canada.
Amir Sanati
AS
Nezhad
Optical-Bio Microsystems Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Concordia University, Montréal, QC H3G 1M8, Canada.
Carlos G
CG
Agudelo
Optical-Bio Microsystems Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Concordia University, Montréal, QC H3G 1M8, Canada. Electronic address: pmuthu@alcor.concordia.ca.
Muthukumaran
M
Packirisamy
Department of Biological Sciences, Institut de Recherche en Biologie Végétale, University of Montreal, Montréal, QC H1X2B2, Canada.
Anja
A
Geitmann
D004867:Equipment Design; D057446:Hydrodynamics; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D059828:Plant Cells; D011058:Pollen / Q000254:growth & development; D053205:Pollen Tube / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development; D059010:Single-Cell Analysis / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D013997:Time Factors
Hydrodynamic trapping; Microfluidic; Plant cell; Pollen tube; Tip growing cell