Project Title:
An On-line Monitor of Microbial Ecosystems
Biolog, Inc.
3938 Trust Way
Hayward, CA 94545
93-1 12.08 2564 Amount Requested $70,000
An On-line Monitor of Microbial Ecosystems
Abstract:
In order to grow plants for food on the Space Station, it is very
important to cultivate and maintain appropriate microbial eco
systems. These ecosystems are essential to fostering proper root
development and permitting rapid and healthy growth of plants.
Until very recently, there was no simple method or instrument that
would permit the monitoring of microbial ecosystems. However in
1989, Biolog, Inc. introduced a revolutionary test kit technology
that allows one to monitor micro-scale samples of microbial
populations simultaneously in 95 different metabolic tests. This
technology was developed originally for pure cultures of
microorganisms to yield species level identifications.
Then in 1991, Jay Garland and Aaron Mills showed that mixed
microbial populations from a variety of soil and water ecosystems
also gave unique and characteristic metabolic fingerprints when
monitored continuously in Biolog MicroPlates. Recently, their
findings have been confirmed at several other universities.
In this SBIR submission, we propose to develop a very small
instrument that incorporates all of the necessary components (micro
test cards, continuous carousel with vision system, and software
for analysis and recognition of microbial ecosystems). The
instrument will monitor ecosystems of the Space Station, alert the
astronauts to undesirable changes, and help determine remedial
actions.
There are many potential spinoffs and commercial applications from
this development. The largest existing market is in the area of
species identification of pathogenic microbes in clinical
laboratories. The Phase III product outcome would be an automated
microbiology testing system which offers the laboratory great
advantages in terms of scope, speed, accuracy, simplicity, and cost
savings. The same system would also find many uses ln
environmental microbiology.
Bacteria, identification, microbiology, laboratory automation,
ecology, ecosystems