title: Heat-fixation method used in an atomic force microscopy study of cell morphology.
abstract: In order to overcome the difficulties with existing methods for sample immobilization in imaging Halobacterium salinarum (H. salinarum) living in a highly salty medium by atomic force microscopy (AFM), a heat-fixation method was, for the first time, used to overcome existing problems in preparing samples for AFM. The effect on the cell morphology of the heat-fixation method was studied by MAC mode AFM, and was compared with the drop-and-dry and the polylysine-adhesion methods. It was found that the heat-fixation method can be successfully used for preparing Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria samples for AFM studies. Using this method, high-resolution AFM images of H. salinarum were obtained. Round protrusions on the cell surface and horn-like protrusions only at one pole of H. salinarum were observed.
authors.affiliation: College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences and State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, PR China.
authors.forename: Zhe-Xue
authors.initials: ZX
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Zhi-Ling
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Wan-Liang
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Dai-Wen
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.forename: Zhi-Xiong
authors.initials: ZX
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sheng
mesh_terms: D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000166:cytology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques / Q000379:methods; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000166:cytology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D019617:Halobacterium salinarum / Q000166:cytology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006358:Hot Temperature; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force / Q000379:methods*; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D012965:Sodium Chloride