Development of separation techniques for soil microbes by dielectrophoresis

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25550062
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Modeling and technologies for environmental conservation and remediation
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: KURISU Futoshi 東京大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), 准教授 (30312979)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): KASUGA Ikuro 東京大学, 大学院工学系研究科, 講師 (20431794)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 土壌微生物 / 誘電泳動

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In order to observe soil samples by microscopes, it is necessary to remove impurities. However, it is very difficult to separate the particles of the same size from bacterial cells. We applied dielectrophoresis technique to separate soil particles from bacterial cells. First we determined the optimal conditions to trap bacterial cells for two types of bacteria, and then we successfully separated bacterial cells from the soil slurry that was supplemented by the bacteria. We demonstrated the possibility to apply the technique for cell separation if we can improve recovery ratio.

Free Research Field

環境微生物工学