Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Chemotactic steering of bacteria propelled microbeads

  • Published:
Biomedical Microdevices Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Flagellated bacteria have been embraced by the micro-robotics community as a highly efficient microscale actuation method, capable of converting chemical energy into mechanical actuation for microsystems that require a small payload and high rate of actuation. Along with being highly motile, Serratia marcescens (S. marcescens), our bacterium species of interest, is a highly agile biomotor capable of being steered via chemotaxis. In this paper, we attached S. marcescens bacteria to polystyrene microbeads towards creating biohybrid that can propel themselves towards an attractive chemical source. Using a three-channel microfluidic device, linear chemical gradients are generated to compare the behavior of bacteria-propelled beads in the presence and absence of a chemoattractant, L-aspartate. We tested and compared the behavior of three different bacteria-attached bead sizes (5, 10 and 20 μm diameter) using a visual particle-tracking algorithm, and noted their behavioral differences. The results indicate that in the presence of a chemoattractant, the S. marcescens-attached polystyrene beads exhibit a clear indication of directionality and steering control through the coordination of the bacteria present on each bead. This directionality is observed in all bead size cases, suggesting potential for targeted payload delivery using such a biohybrid micro-robotic approach.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • J. Adler, B. Templeton, J. Gen. Microbiol. 46, 175 (1967)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • T. Ahmed, T.S. Shimizu, R. Stocker, Nano. Lett. 10, 3379 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • V. Arabagi, B. Behkam, M. Sitti, J. Appl. Phys. 109, 114702 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • B. Behkam, M. Sitti, Appl. Phys. Lett. 93, 223901 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • B. Behkam, M. Sitti, Appl. Phys. Lett. 90, 023902 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • B. Behkam and M. Sitti, Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. Robot., 1022 (2009)

  • B. Behkam and M. Sitti, Proc. IEEE-RAS-EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics, 753 (2008)

  • S.-Y. Cheng, S. Heilman, M. Wasserman, S. Archer, M.L. Shulerac, M. Wu, Lab on a Chip 7(763) (2007)

  • N. Darnton, L. Turner, K. Breuer, H.C. Berg, Biophys. J. 86, 1863 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • E. Diller, S. Floyd, C. Pawashe, M. Sitti, IEEE Trans. on Robotics 28, 172 (2012a)

  • E. Diller, S. Miyashita, M. Sitti, RSC Advances 2, 3850 (2012b)

    Google Scholar 

  • E. Diller, C. Pawashe, S. Floyd, M. Sitti, Int. J. Robot. Res. 30, 1667 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  • B. Donald, C. Levey, C. McGray, I. Paprotny, D. Russ, J. Microelectromech. S. 15 (2006)

  • S. Floyd, E. Diller, C. Pawashe, M. Sitti, Int. J. Robot. Res. 30, 1553 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  • A.J. Goldman, R.G. Cox, H. Brenner, Chem. Eng. Sci. 22(4), 653 (1967)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • J.R. Howse, R.A.L. Jones, A.J. Ryan, T. Gough, R. Vafabakhsh, R. Golestanian, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 0481021 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D. Kim, A. Liu, and M. Sitti, Proc. IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. Robots and Intelligent Systems, 1674 (2011)

  • D.H. Kim, E.B. Steager, U.K. Cheang, D. Byun, M.J. Kim, J. Micromech. Microeng. 20, 065006 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • M. Kim, K. Breuer, J. Fluid Eng. – T. ASME 129, 319 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R.D. Leonardo, L. Angelani, D. Dell’Arciprete, G. Ruocco, V. Iebba, S. Schippa, M.P. Conte, F. Mecarini, F.D. Angelis, E.D. Fabrizio, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 107, 9541 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • S. Martel, M. Mohammadi, O. Felfoul, Z. Lu, P. Pouponneau, Int. J. Robot. Res. 28, 571 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • S. Park, P. Wolanin, E. Yuzbashyan, H.N. Darnton, J. Stock, P. Silberzan, R. Austin, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100, 13910 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • C. Pawashe, S. Floyd, E. Diller, M. Sitti, IEEE Trans. on Robotics 28, 467 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  • C. Pawashe, S. Floyd, M. Sitti, Int. J. Robot. Res. 28, 1077 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • M. Sitti, Nature 458, 1121 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • A. Sokolov, I. Aranson, J. Kessler, R. Goldstein, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 1581021 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • E. Steager, C. Kim, J. Patel, S. Bith, C. Naik, L. Reber, M.J. Kim, Appl. Phys. Lett. 90, 263901 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D.B. Weibel, P. Garstecki, D. Ryan, W.R. DiLuzio, M. Mayer, J.E. Seto, G.M. Whitesides, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102, 11963 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • K. Yesin, K. Vollmers, B. Nelson, Int. J. Robot. Res. 25, 527 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors of this paper would like to thank the members of the NanoRobotics Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University for their help and discussions. We would also like to thank Joseph Suhan of Carnegie Mellon University for help in SEM imaging. This work was supported by the NSF CPS-Medium project (CNS-1135850).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Dongwook Kim & Eric Diller

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Albert Liu

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Metin Sitti

Authors
  1. Dongwook Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Albert Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Eric Diller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Metin Sitti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Metin Sitti.

Additional information

Dongwook Kim and Albert Liu are equally contributing authors.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

(MP4 2885 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kim, D., Liu, A., Diller, E. et al. Chemotactic steering of bacteria propelled microbeads. Biomed Microdevices 14, 1009–1017 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-012-9701-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-012-9701-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation