High-throughput and long-term observation of compartmentalized biochemical oscillators

Koshi Hasatani (1) , Mathieu Leocmach (2) , Anthony J Genot (1) , André Estévez-Torres (3) , Teruo Fujii (1) , Yannick Rondelez (1)

1 LIMMS - Laboratory for Integrated Micro Mechatronics Systems
2 ILM - Institut Lumière Matière [Villeurbanne]
3 Phys-ENS - Laboratoire de Physique de l'ENS Lyon

We report the splitting of an oscillating DNA circuit into ∼ 700 droplets with picoliter volumes. Upon incubation at constant temperature, the droplets display sustained oscillations that can be observed for more than a day. Superimposed to the bulk behaviour, we find two intriguing new phenoma-slow desynchronization between the compartments and kinematic spatial waves-and investigate their possible origins. This approach provides a route to study the influence of small volume effects in biology, and paves the way to technological applications of compartmentalized molecular programs controlling complex dynamics.

Domaines: Matière Molle [cond-mat.soft]

Koshi Hasatani, Mathieu Leocmach, Anthony J Genot, André Estévez-Torres, Teruo Fujii, et al.. High-throughput and long-term observation of compartmentalized biochemical oscillators. Chemical Communications, 2013, 49 (73), ⟨10.1039/c3cc44323j⟩. ⟨hal-01901022⟩