Figure 5.

Droplet microfluidic capabilities enabling functional metagenomic studies

This figure summarizes the three droplet microfluidic tools integrated in this study. A. Process diagram fully describing single-cell encapsulation. A critical step of this procedure is to measure the cell concentration before the encapsulation to guarantee that only one cell is encapsulated per droplet. B. Protocol for droplet sorting. This protocol includes selecting the right optical components and identifying possible errors on the hardware and software. Measuring the time from droplet detection to the sorting junction is fundamental for synchronizing the control system with the device’s droplet flow. C. Merging process of two droplets to add new reagents to already-made droplets. The most crucial step in this process is to adjust the inlet flow rates to obtain a 1:1 droplet synchronization.