Oriented imaging of 3D subcellular structures in bacterial cells using optical tweezers.
Using oscillating optical tweezers, we show that controlled alignment of rod-shaped bacterial cells allows imaging fluorescently labeled three-dimensional (3D) subcellular structures from different, optimized viewpoints. To illustrate our method, we analyze the Z ring of E. coli. We obtain that the radial width of the Z ring in unconstricted cells is about 120 nm. This result suggests that the Z ring consists of an extremely sparse network of FtsZ filaments.
Department of Physics, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel.
G
G
Carmon
I
I
Fishov
M
M
Feingold
D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000166:cytology*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D042541:Intracellular Space; D052898:Optical Tweezers