Determination of cell viability in single or mixed samples using capillaryelectrophoresis laser-induced fluorescence microfluidic systems

The advent of high-efficiency microbial separations win have a profound eff ect on both chemistry and microbiology. For the first time, it appears that it may be possible to obtain qualitative and quantitative information on m icrobial systems with the accuracy, precision, speed, and throughput that c urrently is found for chemical systems. Recently it was suggested that an a nalytical separations-based approach for determining the viability of cells would be advantageous. The feasibility of such an approach is demonstrated using CE-LIF of two bacteria and yeast. The analytical procedures and figu res of merit are outlined. High-throughput analyses and evaluation of micro organisms now appear to be possible.