Figure 8: Reconfigurable agarose stamps and replica stamping
A rectangular pattern of circular posts (1 mm diameter, 2.5 mm pitch) was used to repetitively pattern agar plates. The stamp was inked with a suspension of cells of V. fischeri and used to transfer the pattern to the surface of GVM-agar plates 250 times with a single inking. The contact time between the stamp and the surface of the plates was 5 s, and the time that had elapsed between stamping sequential patterns was ~5 s (the time elapsed between the first and the 250th print was ~20 min). After print 250, we incubated the stamp for one week to allow the "ink" to be regenerated and then printed more patterns. This sequence could be repeated for over a month.