aNP-TRAP: a conceptual platform for in situ microbial cultivation and functional detection of antimicrobial activity

Microbial natural products are central to drug discovery, yet many biosynthetic gene clusters remain transcriptionally silent under standard laboratory conditions. Conventional screening workflows—based on ex situ cultivation and metabolite extraction—can be labor-intensive and often fail to capture ecologically relevant microbial interactions. To address these limitations, we propose the aNP-TRAP (Activity-guided Natural Product Triaging and Recognition Assay Platform), a conceptual, field-deployable device designed to integrate in situ microbial cultivation with functional detection of bioactivity. The system consists of a honeycomb array of cultivation wells, semipermeable and gradient membranes to permit directional metabolite diffusion, and a detection layer containing biosensors responsive to antibacterial, antifungal, or quorum-sensing–inhibitory compounds. Three detection strategies are envisioned: Escherichia coli JW5503-1 with resazurin for antibacterial activity, Candida albicans for antifungal screening, and Chromobacterium violaceum CV026 for quorum-sensing inhibition. Microbial metabolites diffusing through the membranes interact with the biosensor matrices, potentially generating colorimetric or pigment-based signals. This platform is conceptual and currently lacks empirical validation; all performance expectations derive from simulation-based reasoning. In brief, simulations suggested a 0.2 µm membrane equilibrates nutrients within ∼2–6 h, directional metabolite flux achieves 95% reflux suppression within ∼6–10 h, and biosensor responses become detectable within ∼4–10 h at representative inhibitory ranges. Although unvalidated, this integrated configuration may support early-stage triaging of microbial isolates and help guide the discovery of bioactive compounds from under-explored microbial communities. The platform should be viewed as a hypothesis-generating concept rather than a validated tool.