Lei, W. / Demir, K. / Overhage, J. / Grunze, M. / Schwartz, T. / Levkin, P.A. (2020)

Advanced Biosystems, 2020, 4, 10, doi.org/10.1002/adbi.202000073

Abstract

Currently, there are no time‐saving and cost‐effective high‐throughput screening methods for the evaluation of bacterial drug‐resistance. In this study, a droplet microarray (DMA) system is established as a miniaturized platform for high‐throughput screening of antibacterial compounds using the emerging, opportunistic human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) as a target. Based on the differences in wettability of DMA slides, a rapid method for generating microarrays of nanoliter‐sized droplets containing bacteria is developed. The bacterial growth in droplets is evaluated using fluorescence. The new method enables immediate screening with libraries of antibiotics. A novel simple colorimetric readout method compatible with the nanoliter size of the droplets is established. Furthermore, the drug‐resistance of P. aeruginosa 49, a multi‐resistant strain from an environmental isolate, is investigated. This study demonstrates the potential of the DMA platform for the rapid formation of microarrays of bacteria for high‐throughput drug screening.

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