Use of a modified iChip for bacterial isolation from a tropical peat swamp forest with emphasis on a novel antimicrobial-producing bacterium Chitinophaga extrema

The present study looks into 3D-printing an isolation chip device that improves the cultivation and recovery of previously unculturable environmental microorganisms from a pristine tropical peat forest. The 3D-printed device has led to the isolation of a pool of microorganisms with considerable diversity and novelty compared to standard cultivation approaches. Most notably, among these microorganisms, the device led to the discovery of a new bacterial species, Chitinophaga extrema sp. nov., that produces highly-likely novel antimicrobial compounds with a broad-spectrum of activity against both bacterial and fungal pathogens.