2015 Theses Doctoral

Electrochemical Camera Chip for Simultaneous Imaging of Multiple Metabolites in Biofilms

Bellin, Daniel Louis

Despite advances in monitoring spatiotemporal expression patterns of genes and proteins with fluorescent probes, direct detection of metabolites and small molecules remains challenging. Here we present an integrated circuit-based electrochemical camera chip capable of simultaneous spatial imaging of multiple redox-active metabolites, called phenazines, produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA14 colony biofilms. Imaging of mutants with various capacities for phenazine production reveals local patterns of phenazine distribution in the biofilms. Such integrated circuit-based techniques promise wide applicability in detecting redox-active species from diverse biological samples.