title: Nanoscale imaging of the growth and division of bacterial cells on planar substrates with the atomic force microscope.
abstract: With the use of the atomic force microscope (AFM), the Nanomicrobiology field has advanced drastically. Due to the complexity of imaging living bacterial processes in their natural growing environments, improvements have come to a standstill. Here we show the in situ nanoscale imaging of the growth and division of single bacterial cells on planar substrates with the atomic force microscope. To achieve this, we minimized the lateral shear forces responsible for the detachment of weakly adsorbed bacteria on planar substrates with the use of the so called dynamic jumping mode with very soft cantilever probes. With this approach, gentle imaging conditions can be maintained for long periods of time, enabling the continuous imaging of the bacterial cell growth and division, even on planar substrates. Present results offer the possibility to observe living processes of untrapped bacteria weakly attached to planar substrates.
authors: Institut de Bioenginyeria de Catalunya (IBEC), C/ Baldiri i Reixac 11-15, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Van Der Hofstadt
authors: Institut de Bioenginyeria de Catalunya (IBEC), C/ Baldiri i Reixac 11-15, 08028 Barcelona, Spain; Departament de Microbiologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Avinguda Diagonal 645, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Hüttener
authors: Institut de Bioenginyeria de Catalunya (IBEC), C/ Baldiri i Reixac 11-15, 08028 Barcelona, Spain; Departament de Microbiologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Avinguda Diagonal 645, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Juárez
authors: Institut de Bioenginyeria de Catalunya (IBEC), C/ Baldiri i Reixac 11-15, 08028 Barcelona, Spain; Departament d'Electronica, Universitat de Barcelona, C/ Marti i Franqués 1, 08028 Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: ggomila@ibecbarcelona.eu.
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Gomila
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D002455:Cell Division; D018914:Cells, Immobilized; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force / Q000379:methods*; D036103:Nanotechnology; D013499:Surface Properties
keywords: Atomic Force Microscope (AFM); Bacteria division; Dynamic jumping mode; Gelatine immobilization; Living cell imaging