Compartmentalization method for screening microorganisms

A method of screening microorganisms having a selectable characteristic comprising:

• (a) providing a growth chamber capable of forming a plurality of discrete compartments, said compartments comprising a barrier which inhibits the diffusion of metabolites or nutrients between said compartments within said growth chamber and comprising hollow fibers, glass beads, a dispersion of the inoculated media in a non-miscible fluid, or encapsulated media in a solid matrix;
• (b) preparing a medium which, by its lack of or addition of one or more metabolites or nutrients, preferentially facilitates growth of microorganisms exhibiting said selectable characteristic from microorganisms which do not exhibit said selectable characteristic;
• (c) inoculating said medium with a plurality of microorganisms, a portion of which comprise said selectable characteristic;
• (d) placing said inoculated medium into said growth chamber so as to randomly disperse said microorganisms among discrete compartments in said growth chamber;
• (e) incubating said growth chamber for a suitable time and under suitable conditions to obtain a detectable disparity of growth between microorganisms having said selectable characteristic and microorganisms lacking said selectable characteristic;
• and
• (f) selecting microorganisms identified as having said selectable characteristic wherein said method results in a higher proportion of microorganisms exhibiting said selectable characteristic compared to an identical method of screening except for the absence of discrete compartments.