An attempt for bio-lithography using cellulose nanofibers secreted by Acetobacter xylinum

Acetobacter xylinum secretes cellulose nano-fibers with 40-60nm in width. Recently, Kondo et al. reported a method to regulate the direction of the fiber deposition due to the strong interaction with the molecular tracks in an ordered cellulose film¹⁾ (NOC)²⁾. This resulted in proposal of constructing a desired 3D structure by the incubation of the bacteria on the substrate, and thereby it may be called as "bio-lithography." In this paper, the bio-lithography was attempted by using a template having a desired hydrophilic pattern scratched by AFM manipulation for the flat hydrophobic surface made of BC pellicle. When the bacteria were cultivated on this template, a 3D structure was found to be built selectively onto the hydrophilic pattern.