Monitoring the growth of individual bacteria using asynchronous magnetic bead rotation sensors

Continuous growth of individual bacteria has been previously studied by direct observation using optical imaging. However, optical microscopy studies are inherently diffraction limited and limited in the number of individual cells that can be continuously monitored. Here we report on the use of the asynchronous magnetic bead rotation (AMBR) sensor, which is not diffraction limited. The AMBR sensor allows for the measurement of nanoscale growth dynamics of individual bacterial cells, over multiple generations. This torque-based magnetic bead sensor monitors variations in drag caused by the attachment and growth of a single bacterial cell. In this manner, we observed the growth and division of individual E. coli bacteria, with 80 nanometer sensitivity to the cell length. Over the life cycle of a cell we observed up to 300 % increase in the rotational period of the biosensor due to increased cell volume. In addition, we observed single bacterial cell growth response to antibiotics. This work demonstrates a non-microscopy based approach for monitoring individual cell growth dynamics, including cell elongation, generation time, lag time, and division, as well as their sensitivity to antibiotics.