title: Deployable micro-traps to sequester motile bacteria.
abstract: The development of strategies to reduce the load of unwanted bacteria is a fundamental challenge in industrial processing, environmental sciences and medical applications. Here, we report a new method to sequester motile bacteria from a liquid, based on passive, deployable micro-traps that confine bacteria using micro-funnels that open into trapping chambers. Even in low concentrations, micro-traps afford a 70% reduction in the amount of bacteria in a liquid sample, with a potential to reach >90% as shown by modelling improved geometries. This work introduces a new approach to contain the growth of bacteria without chemical means, an advantage of particular importance given the alarming growth of pan-drug-resistant bacteria.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering (D-MAVT), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Raffaele
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Di Giacomo
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering (D-MAVT), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Krödel
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Division of Biomedicine, University of Salerno, Fisciano, Italy.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maresca
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioscience, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Benzoni
authors.affiliation: Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.|Institute of Environmental Engineering, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland.|Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rusconi
authors.affiliation: Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.|Institute of Environmental Engineering, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stocker
authors.affiliation: Division of Engineering and Applied Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Daraio
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D002465:Cell Movement; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006801:Humans; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D019779:Salmonella enterica / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D014734:Vibrio cholerae / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D014871:Water Microbiology