Connell and colleagues report the development of a multiphoton lithography-based three dimensional (3D) printing technique that enables the encapsulation of viable bacteria within microscopic gelatin-based sealed microcontainers. The bacteria are physically segregated from bacteria in other microcontainers but can still chemically communicate with them. This technique allows defined polymicrobial communities to be constructed in a limitless variety of 3D geometrical arrangements and will enable the sociomicrobiological interactions within these communities to be studied at an unprecedented level of detail.
References
Connell, J. L. et al. 3D printing of microscopic bacterial communities. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1309729110 (2013)
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Molloy, S. Bacteria in 3D. Nat Rev Microbiol 11, 820 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro3173
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro3173