Replicating Arabidopsis Model Leaf Surfaces for Phyllosphere Microbiology

Artificial surfaces are commonly used in place of leaves in phyllosphere microbiology to study microbial behaviour on plant leaf surfaces. These surfaces enable a reductionist approach to be undertaken, to enable individual environmental factors influencing microorganisms to be studied. Commonly used artificial surfaces include nutrient agar, isolated leaf cuticles, and reconstituted leaf waxes. Recently, replica surfaces mimicking the complex topography of leaf surfaces for phyllosphere microbiology studies are appearing in literature. Replica leaf surfaces have been produced in agar, epoxy, polystyrene, and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). However, none of these protocols are suitable for replicating fragile leaves such as of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. This is of importance, as A. thaliana is a model system for molecular plant genetics, molecular plant biology, and microbial ecology. To overcome this limitation, we introduce a versatile replication protocol for replicating fragile leaf surfaces into PDMS. Here we demonstrate the capacity of our replication process using optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and contact angle measurements to compare living and PDMS replica A. thaliana leaf surfaces. To highlight the use of our replica leaf surfaces for phyllosphere microbiology, we visualise bacteria on the replica leaf surfaces in comparison to living leaf surfaces.

Fabrication of Convex PDMS–Parylene Microstructures for Conformal Contact of Planar Micro-Electrode Array

Polymer-based micro-electrode arrays (MEAs) are gaining attention as an essential technology to understand brain connectivity and function in the field of neuroscience. However, polymer based MEAs may have several challenges such as difficulty in performing the etching process, difficulty of micro-pattern generation through the photolithography process, weak metal adhesion due to low surface energy, and air pocket entrapment over the electrode site. In order to compensate for the challenges, this paper proposes a novel MEA fabrication process that is performed sequentially with (1) silicon mold preparation; (2) PDMS replica molding, and (3) metal patterning and parylene insulation. The MEA fabricated through this process possesses four arms with electrode sites on the convex microstructures protruding about 20 μm from the outermost layer surface. The validity of the convex microstructure implementation is demonstrated through theoretical background. The electrochemical impedance magnitude is 204.4 ± 68.1 kΩ at 1 kHz. The feasibility of the MEA with convex microstructures was confirmed by identifying the oscillation in the beta frequency band (13–30 Hz) in the electrocorticography signal of a rat olfactory bulb during respiration. These results suggest that the MEA with convex microstructures is promising for applying to various neural recording and stimulation studies.

Replicating Arabidopsis Model Leaf Surfaces for Phyllosphere Microbiology

Artificial surfaces are commonly used in place of leaves in phyllosphere microbiology to study microbial behaviour on plant leaf surfaces. Studies looking into individual environmental factors influencing microorganisms are routinely carried out using artificial surfaces. Commonly used artificial surfaces include nutrient agar, isolated leaf cuticles, and reconstituted leaf waxes. However, interest is growing in using microstructured surfaces mimicking the complex topography of leaf surfaces for phyllosphere microbiology. As such replica leaf surfaces, produced by microfabrication, are appearing in literature. Replica leaf surfaces have been produced in agar, epoxy, polystyrene, and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). However, these protocols are not suitable for replicating fragile leaves such as of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. This is of importance as A. thaliana is a model system for molecular plant genetics, molecular plant biology, and microbial ecology. Here we present a versatile replication protocol for replicating fragile leaf surfaces into PDMS. We display the capacity of our replication process using optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and contact angle measurements to compare living and PDMS replica A. thaliana leaf surfaces. To highlight the use of our replica leaf surfaces for phyllosphere microbiology, we visualised bacteria on the replica leaf surfaces in comparison to living leaf surfaces.

Adhesion and proliferation of cells and bacteria on microchip with different surfaces microstructures

Surface microstructure of implant materials is an essential factor for soft tissue healing around the implant. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of different microchip surface microstructures on the adhesion and proliferation of cells and bacteria. Hydroxyapatite (HA) microchips with different microstructures (linear, decussate, circular and triangular) and their polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) replica chips were prepared. Myoblast cells (C2C12),

Excimer Laser-Machined SU-8 Microstructures for Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) Replica Molding

Excimer laser ablation is considered a versatile technique to machine three-dimensional (3-D) structures which is difficult to create only by conventional microfabrication technique. We introduce the use of 193 nm excimer laser micromachining for fabrication of negative photoresist (SU-8) master molds for polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) replica molding. Experimental characterization study on the effect of laser parameters (fluence, repetition rate, and number of shots) on the etch performances (etch rate, and aspect ratio) is presented here. Etch rate per shot of SU-8 was proportional to the fluence, but inversely proportional to the number of shots. The repetition rate of laser firing did not show a noteworthy influence to the etch rates. Aspect ratio was also proportional to the fluence and number of laser firing, but was not affected by the repetition rate of laser. For demonstration of replica molding, we made holes with different depth in SU-8 layer and used it to create PDMS micropillar array.

Validation of a Novel Microscale Mold Patterning Protocol Based on Gelatin Methacrylate Photopolymerizable Hydrogels

Native tissues are composed of functional three-dimensional (3D) units on the scale of 100–1000μm. The 3D architecture of these repeating units underlies the coordination of multicellular processes such as proliferation, differentiation, migration and apoptosis[1]. The requirement for 3D biomimetic matrices to mimic in vitro the ECM microarchitecture found in vivo becomes relevant in complex and vascularized tissue engineered models[2]. Among others, photopolymerizable hydrogels offer tunable geometrical features similar to the macromolecular-based components of soft ECM [3], can be crosslinked either in vivo or in vitro in the presence of a photoinitiator agent (PI) using visible or ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation, and have shown good compatibility with several protocols for cell embedding at different size-scales. In the present study, a new protocol to obtain cell-laden hydrogel micropatterns with highly controlled geometrical features is presented, based on the combination of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) replica molding and UV photopolimerization of methacrylate gelatin (GelMA).