Detecting Bacterial Cell Viability in Few µL Solutions from Impedance Measurements on Silicon-Based Biochips

Using two different types of impedance biochips (PS5 and BS5) with ring top electrodes, a distinct change of measured impedance has been detected after adding 1–5 µL (with dead or live Gram-positive Lysinibacillus sphaericus JG-A12 cells to 20 µL DI water inside the ring top electrode. We relate observed change of measured impedance to change of membrane potential of L. sphaericus JG-A12 cells. In contrast to impedance measurements, optical density (OD) measurements cannot be used to distinguish between dead and live cells. Dead L. sphaericus JG-A12 cells have been obtained by adding 0.02 mg/mL of the antibiotics tetracycline and 0.1 mg/mL chloramphenicol to a batch with OD0.5 and by incubation for 24 h, 30 °C, 120 rpm in the dark. For impedance measurements, we have used batches with a cell density of 25.5 × 10⁸ cells/mL (OD8.5) and 270.0 × 10⁸ cells/mL (OD90.0). The impedance biochip PS5 can be used to detect the more resistive and less capacitive live L. sphaericus JG-A12 cells. Also, the impedance biochip BS5 can be used to detect the less resistive and more capacitive dead L. sphaericus JG-A12 cells. An outlook on the application of the impedance biochips for high-throughput drug screening, e.g., against multi-drug-resistant Gram-positive bacteria, is given.