# Dielectrophoresis for Isolating Low-Abundance Bacteria Obscured by Impurities in Environmental Samples

## TL;DR

This paper introduces dielectrophoresis as a method to isolate rare bacteria in environmental samples, revealing previously hidden microbial diversity and functions.

## Contribution

The study demonstrates that dielectrophoresis outperforms centrifugation in isolating low-abundance bacteria obscured by impurities.

## Key findings

- DEP successfully isolated bacterial fractions while reducing impurities in shrimp-associated samples.
- Bacteria undetected by centrifugation were identified, potentially involved in nutrient cycling and immune modulation.
- DEP shows promise for studying host-microbial interactions in aquaculture and environmental biotechnology.

## Abstract

Bacterial communities associated with living organisms play critical roles in maintaining health and ecological balance. While dominant bacteria have been widely studied, understanding the role of low-abundance bacteria has become increasingly important due to their unique roles, such as regulating bacterial community dynamics and supporting host-specific functions. However, detecting these bacteria remains challenging, as impurities in environmental samples mask signals and compromise the accuracy of analyses. This study explored the use of dielectrophoresis (DEP) as a practical approach to isolate low-abundance bacteria obscured by impurities, comparing its utility to conventional centrifugation methods. Using two shrimp species, Neocaridina denticulata and Penaeus japonicus, DEP effectively isolated bacterial fractions while reducing impurities, enabling the detection of bacteria undetected in centrifuged samples. These newly detected bacteria were potentially linked to diverse ecological and host-specific functions, such as nutrient cycling and immune modulation, highlighting DEP as a highly potential approach to support the study of host-microbial interactions. Overall, we believe that DEP offers a practical solution for detecting overlooked bacteria in conventional methods and exploring their diversity and functional roles, with potential contributions to aquaculture and environmental biotechnology.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10126-025-10441-0.