A PRACTICAL OPTICAL TRAP FOR MANIPULATING AND ISOLATING BACTERIA FROMCOMPLEX MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES

A wide variety of naturally occurring bacteria cannot be isolated by c lassical microbiological methods, hindering study of microbial communi ties. To partially remove this limitation, a method using optical trap ping was developed. It allows for one-step isolation of bacteria from a complex community to a pure culture. The method transfers a single b acterium to sterile culture medium using a non-destructive laser beam. The ease with which a previously unculturable cell was cultured by tr apping suggests that competition may limit growth in some natural comm unities of bacteria.