Redefining Control And Consistency In Anaerobic Microbiome Workflows

In this interview, Sheela Muley, Product Manager astatine Molecular Devices, and Dr Sushmita Sudarshan, Application Scientist successful Assay Development astatine Molecular Devices, talk astir innovative approaches to microbiome research, pinch a attraction connected automation successful anaerobic workflows. They talk really next‑generation devices are helping to unlock nan uncultured mostly of nan microbiome and streamline microbial screening for caller therapeutics.

Can you please present yourselves and your roles astatine Molecular Devices?

Muley: I’m Sheela Muley, Product Manager astatine Biopharma astatine Molecular Devices. In my role, I oversee nan improvement and commercialization of microbial and mammalian clone‑screening platforms.

Dr Sudarshan: I’m Sushmita Sudarshan, Application Scientist successful Assay Development astatine Molecular Devices. I activity connected translating microbial workflows into automated solutions, particularly focusing connected high‑throughput and anaerobic applications.

Image Credit: FOTOGRIN/Shutterstock.com

Why is nan microbiome specified an important investigation frontier correct now?

Muley: The microbiome is simply a cardinal influencer of our immune system, metabolism, and moreover our temper and neurological health. We person trillions of microbes successful our body, and they encode acold much genes than our quality genome. So, knowing that organization and converting it into therapeutics has tremendous potential.

We besides cognize that only astir a 3rd of gut microbial type are culturable today, meaning 60‑70% stay uncultured. That spread drives nan request for caller technologies and workflows.

We only cognize astir 30 to 40 percent of our microbiome… truthful really do we get to that 100 % of this uncultured and unexplorable diversity?

Dr Muley, Product Manager astatine Biopharma astatine Molecular Devices

So, nan microbiome is not conscionable descriptive; it’s actionable if we create nan correct tools.

What are nan awesome challenges successful anaerobic microbiome workflows?

Muley: A large situation is culturing strict anaerobes. The gut and galore biology microbiomes are oxygen‑free aliases low‑oxygen habitats, and manual workflows wrong anaerobic chambers are slow, error‑prone, and deficiency standardization and throughput. Preservation of sample integrity, sterility, and traceability is critical.

The functional spread present is going from genotype (NGS) to phenotype and interaction, which requires culturing, isolating, picking colonies, and truthful on.

How does nan QPix FLEX‑system thief reside those challenges?

Muley: We developed our QPix FLEX microbial screening level to automate plating, streaking, colony picking, hit‑picking, and liquid handling successful a compact shape facet compatible pinch anaerobic (hypoxic) chambers.

It includes features for illustration a high‑resolution colour imaging camera for morphology and pigment detection, barcode search to trim quality error, sterilization modes (UV, ultrasonic baths, optional HEPA), nan expertise to usage disposable tips, and a platform layout designed for flexibility.

We were capable to prime 3 times much colonies wrong a week … saving one to 3 days of picking.

Dr Muley, Product Manager astatine Biopharma astatine Molecular Devices

By integrating aggregate workflow steps successful 1 instrument, we trim instrumentality footprint, trim sample vulnerability to oxygen, standardize protocols, and amended throughput.

Dr. Sudarshan, could you locomotion america done immoderate of nan platform's halfway automated processes and explicate really they construe into clip savings aliases consistency?

Dr Sudarshan: Absolutely. The 4 halfway processes we stress are:

• Colony picking (colour and morphology-based)
• Plating and streaking (onto agar trays, Omni‑Trays, Petri dishes)
• Liquid handling (via four‑channel expandable pipetting head)
• Hit‑picking / cherry‑picking (mapping defined colonies into maestro plates)
  For example, our colour imaging enables grouping of colonies based connected RGB intensity, helping differentiate pigmented aliases newsman strains (e.g., bluish vs achromatic connected X‑gal media, aliases coliform differentiation connected ECC agar)
  These automated steps trim manual steps, trim errors, and guarantee accordant measurement dispensing (validated via absorbance). They besides alteration nan action of smaller colonies earlier, avoiding contaminants' overgrowth. That translates into days of clip saved and accrued colony output and reproducibility.

How does nan strategy support anaerobic‑friendly workflows and sphere sample integrity?

Dr Sudarshan: The strategy is purpose‑built for anaerobic integration:

• A compact footprint truthful it fits wrong modular anaerobic aliases hypoxic chambers
• It avoids power aliases compressor‑based sterilization, truthful picking pins tin stay air‑dried (or usage disposable tips) without introducing oxygen aliases power daze to strains
• The strategy was tested wrong a hypoxic enclosure pinch 5% hydrogen for 1.8 years for stability
• Automation reduces nan number of times plates are moved in/out of nan chamber, reducing vulnerability to ambient air, contamination risk, and stress.

These creation choices guarantee we’re automating microbial workflows while preserving nan viability of oxygen‑sensitive microbes and enhancing reproducibility.

The colour‑camera and colony morphology classification sounds powerful. Could you explicate really that useful and why it’s important?

Dr Sudarshan: The strategy uses a 20‑megapixel CMOS colour camera mixed pinch intelligent package to make RGB histograms for each colony image. Colonies tin beryllium classified based connected colour strength (red, green, bluish channels) and morphology parameters (compactness, facet ratio, diameter).

For example, a bluish colony (LacZ positive) vs a achromatic colony (LacZ negative) tin beryllium separated by their RGB profiles. The usability interface allows for nan action of a reference colony and nan grouping of akin colonies automatically. The package includes thresholding algorithms (e.g., Fensalke section threshold) for high‑fidelity discovery moreover nether debased contrast.

This intends you’re not conscionable picking by size aliases location, you tin prime based connected phenotype (pigment, look marker), which is captious for microbiome workflows aliases engineered strains.

What genomics methods do you urge for nan isolates obtained done these high‑throughput workflows?

Muley: For microbial recognition and genomic anal,ysis we typically usage 16S rRNA sequencing for species‑level recognition of anaerobic isolates. For functional aliases protein‑fingerprint data, MALDI‑TOF is useful (e.g., for strain ID post‑isolation). If you want some genotype and function, you could harvester 16S (or full‑genome sequencing) pinch MALDI‑TOF aliases phenotypic assays. The cardinal is linking genotype to phenotype successful a systematic, reproducible way.

Looking ahead: How does automation successful microbiome investigation reshape nan future?

Dr Sudarshan: Automation enables labs of each sizes, not conscionable ample pharma, to participate meaningfully successful microbiome culturomics.

By replacing manual, error‑prone workflows pinch automated, traceable ones, we make it imaginable to pat into nan uncultured majority, accelerate probiotic discovery, and construe nan microbiome into next‑generation therapeutics.

Muley: Indeed, nan adjacent breakthrough successful a information for illustration Alzheimer’s, depression, aliases cardiovascular illness whitethorn travel from nan microbiome. But it requires robust workflows and automation to standard discovery. We dream to spot automation go infrastructure alternatively than a luxury, facilitating faster, reproducible subject crossed manufacture and academia.

Finally, what proposal would you connection researchers embarking connected anaerobic microbiome screening?

Muley: Start by reasoning astir nan afloat workflow: sample postulation (and maintaining anaerobic environment), plating, isolation, colony picking, tracking, and analysis. If your instrumentality aliases workflow only solves 1 step, you consequence bottlenecks elsewhere.

Dr Sudarshan: Prioritize sterility, traceability, and automation early. Use barcoding, imaging, and integrated search truthful you’re not conscionable picking colonies, you’re building reproducible datasets. And don’t hold to prime ample colonies, automated imaging enables earlier picks, redeeming clip and reducing contamination risk.

About nan Interviewees

Sheela Muley

Sheela Muley is Product Manager, Biopharma astatine Molecular Devices, wherever she leads nan microbial and mammalian clone‑screening portfolio. With complete 20 years of acquisition successful life‑science instrumentation, high‑throughput screening, and assay commercialization, Sheela Muley has overseen merchandise initiatives spanning analytical platforms and cell‑based screening workflows. 

She holds a doctorate successful a applicable life‑science subject (specific institution not public). Her expertise encompasses automation, instrumentation validation, and translating evolving technologies into market‑ready technological tools. She regularly presents connected emerging trends specified arsenic microbiome culturomics and anaerobic automation workflows.

Dr Sushmita Sudarshan

Dr Sushmita Sudarshan is Application Scientist successful Assay Development astatine Molecular Devices, specialising successful microbial research, assay automation, and laboratory instrumentation. She earned her PhD successful Molecular Biology from nan University of Texas astatine Dallas. 

With complete a decade of acquisition spanning world and manufacture labs, she has developed and validated automated microbial workflows, including integration of high‑content imaging, colony picking, and traceable analytics. Her activity supports bacterial, anaerobic, and synthetic biology applications crossed investigation and therapeutic development.

Watch nan accompanying webinar

About Molecular Devices UK Ltd

Molecular Devices is 1 of nan world’s starring providers of high-performance bioanalytical measurement systems, software, and consumables for life subject research, pharmaceutical, and biotherapeutic development. Included wrong a wide merchandise portfolio are platforms for high-throughput screening, genomic and cellular analysis, colony selection, and microplate detection. These leading-edge products alteration scientists to amended productivity and effectiveness, yet accelerating investigation and nan find of caller therapeutics. Molecular Devices is committed to nan continual improvement of innovative solutions for life subject applications. The institution is headquartered successful Silicon Valley, California, pinch offices astir nan globe. For much information, please sojourn www.moleculardevices.com.