Fluorescence-activated droplet sorting of lipolytic microorganisms using a compact optical system. Issue 1 (11th December 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Qiao, Yuxin; Zhao, Xiaoyan; Zhu, Jun; Tu, Ran; Dong, Libing; Wang, Li; Dong, Zhiyang; Wang, Qinhong; Du, Wenbin
• Is Part Of: Lab on a chip. Volume 18:Issue 1(2018)
• Page Start: 190
• Page End: 196
• Publication Date: 2017-12-11
• Subjects: Miniature electronic equipment -- Periodicals; Combinatorial chemistry -- Periodicals; Biotechnology -- Periodicals; 543.0813
• DOI: 10.1039/c7lc00993c
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1473-0197

Abstract

Abstract : Lipases are ubiquitous enzymes of great physiological significance that have been used extensively in multiple industries. Abstract : Lipases are ubiquitous enzymes of great physiological significance that have been used extensively in multiple industries. Environmental microorganisms are a major source for the discovery of novel lipases with high catalytic efficiency and selectivity. However, current plate-based screening of lipase-producing strains is time consuming, labour intensive and inefficient. In this study, we developed an ultra-high throughput screening pipeline for lipase-producing strains based on fluorescence-activated droplet sorting (FADS) using a compact optical system that could be easily set up in an alignment-free manner. The pipeline includes droplet generation, droplet incubation, picoinjection of the fluorescence probe, and sorting of droplets with a throughput of 2 × 10 6 drops per h. We applied the pipeline to screen samples collected from different locations, including sediments from a hot spring in Tibet, soils from the Zoige wetland, contaminated soils from an abandoned oilfield, and a Chinese Daqu starter. In total, we obtained 47 lipase-producing bacterial strains belonging to seven genera, including Staphylococcus, Bacillus, Enterobacter, Serratia, Prolinoborus, Acinetobacter, and Leclercia . We believe that this FADS-based pipeline could be extended to screen various enzymes from the environment, and may find wide applications in breeding of industrial microorganisms.