Developing a low‐cost milliliter‐scale chemostat array for precise control of cellular growth
Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Multiplexed milliliter-scale chemostats are useful for measuring cell physiology under various degrees of nutrient limitation and for carrying out evolution experiments. In each chemostat, fresh medium containing a growth rate-limiting metabolite is pumped into the culturing chamber at a constant rate, while culture effluent exits at an equal rate. Although such devices have been developed by various labs, key parameters - the accuracy, precision, and operational range of flow rate - are not explicitly characterized. METHODS: Here we re-purpose a published multiplexed culturing device to develop a multiplexed milliliter-scale chemostat. Flow rates for eight chambers can be independently controlled to a wide range, corresponding to population doubling times of 3~13 h, without the use of expensive feedback systems. RESULTS: 3%-6% for 13-h and 0.6%-1.0% for 3-h doubling times. This deficit is largely due to evaporation and should be correctable. We experimentally demonstrate that our device allows accurate and precise quantification of population phenotypes. CONCLUSIONS: We achieve precise control of cellular growth in a low-cost milliliter-scale chemostat array, and show that the achieved precision reduces the error when measuring biological processes.
Source: Quantitative Biology
Institutions: Fred Hutch Cancer Center, University of Washington
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W2950607861