title: Non-contact fiber-optical trapping of motile bacteria: dynamics observation and energy estimation.
abstract: The dynamics and energy conversion of bacteria are strongly associated with bacterial activities, such as survival, spreading of bacterial diseases and their pathogenesis. Although different discoveries have been reported on trapped bacteria (i.e. immobilized bacteria), the investigation on the dynamics and energy conversion of motile bacteria in the process of trapping is highly desirable. Here, we report a non-contact optical trapping of motile bacteria using a modified tapered optical fiber. Using Escherichia coli as an example, both single and multiple motile bacteria have been trapped and manipulated in a non-contact manner. Bacterial dynamics has been observed and bacterial energy has been estimated in the trapping process. This non-contact optical trapping provides a new opportunity for better understanding the bacterial dynamics and energy conversion at the single cell level.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Physics and Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Hongbao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xin
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Physics and Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Qingyuan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Physics and Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Baojun
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D055100:Optical Fibers; D059010:Single-Cell Analysis / Q000379:methods*