title: Paper-based device for separation and cultivation of single microalga.
abstract: Single-cell separation is among the most useful techniques in biochemical research, diagnosis and various industrial applications. Microalgae species have great economic importance as industrial raw materials. Microalgae species collected from environment are typically a mixed and heterogeneous population of species that must be isolated and purified for examination and further application. Conventional methods, such as serial dilution and a streaking-plate method, are intensive of labor and inefficient. We developed a paper-based device for separation and cultivation of single microalga. The fabrication was simply conducted with a common laser printer and required only a few minutes without lithographic instruments and clean-room. The driving force of the paper device was simple capillarity without a complicated pump connection that is part of most devices for microfluidics. The open-structure design of the paper device makes it operable with a common laboratory micropipette for sample transfer and manipulation with a naked eye or adaptable to a robotic system with functionality of high-throughput retrieval and analysis. The efficiency of isolating a single cell from mixed microalgae species is seven times as great as with a conventional method involving serial dilution. The paper device can serve also as an incubator for microalgae growth on simply rinsing the paper with a growth medium. Many applications such as highly expressed cell selection and various single-cell analysis would be applicable.
authors.affiliation: Institute of NanoEngineering and MicroSystems, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Chih-Chung
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: The Bioresource Collection and Research Center, Food Industry Research and Development Institute, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Yi-Ju
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Institute of NanoEngineering and MicroSystems, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan, ROC. Electronic address: djyao@mx.nthu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Da-Jeng
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Yao
mesh_terms: D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D056656:Lab-On-A-Chip Devices; D058086:Microalgae / Q000166:cytology*; D010209:Paper; D059010:Single-Cell Analysis
keywords: Laser printer; Microalgae isolation; Paper-based device for separation; Single-cell separation