CONCURRENT FORCE SENSING AND IMAGING OF ACTIN CYTOSKELETON DYNAMICS IN PHYTOPHTHORA SPECIES ON A LAB-ON-A-CHIP DEVICE

In this paper we demonstrate the use of lab-on-a-chip devices to enable concurrent high-resolution confocal imaging of the actin cytoskeleton and measurement of protrusive forces generated by mature hyphae of the plant pathogenic oomycetes Phytophthora palmivora and Phytophthora infestans.We have previously described how elastomeric micropillars can be used to study protrusive forces in hyphal invasion [1], how these pillars can be integrated into polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based devices tailored towards fungi and oomycetes [2], and how spore trapping, on-chip germination and measurement of germ tube force can be realized on these devices [3].In the current work we extend this to facilitate high-resolution confocal imaging of the actin cytoskeleton of hyphal tips while these interact with the force sensing micropillars.