Differential Microwave Resonator Sensor Reveals Glucose-Dependent Growth Profile of E. coli on Solid Agar

This letter presents a practical application of a differential microstrip microwave sensor for label-free and real-time monitoring of <italic>Escherichia coli</italic> (<italic>E. coli</italic>) growth under different nutritional conditions on solid agar media. Two planar microstrip ring resonators coupled with a one-port power divider form the core of the sensing system. The sensing resonator operates at 1.509 GHz with an amplitude of −10.21 dB and the reference resonator operates at 1.798 GHz with an amplitude of −11.75 dB. The growth profile of <italic>E. coli</italic> at each glucose concentration in Luria-Bertani (LB) agar was derived by measuring the resonant amplitude variations (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Delta {A}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) and is further supported by microscopic images. A complete inhibition of growth was observed at 10% glucose concentration. This research expands the application of microwave sensors to investigate the effect of nutritional parameters on bacterial growth.

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