Micro-confinement of bacteria into w/o emulsion droplets for rapid detection and enumeration

▶ Picoliter droplets of w/o fluorinated emulsion as microreactors. ▶ E. coli were encapsulated in droplets. ▶ Enzymatic activities of a large number of single bacteria could be monitored. ▶ Micro-confinement of cells allows rapid accumulation of fluorescent metabolites. ▶ Fast detection (2 h) of bacteria.