title: Laser microdissection: A promising tool for exploring microorganisms and their interactions with hosts.
abstract: Laser microdissection is a method that allows for the isolation of homogenous cell populations from their native niches in tissues for downstream molecular assays. This method is widely used for genomic analysis, gene expression profiling and proteomic and metabolite assays in various fields of biology, but it remains an uncommon approach in microbiological research. In spite of the limited number of publications, laser microdissection was shown to be an extremely useful method for studying host-microorganism interactions in animals and plants, investigating bacteria within biofilms, identifying uncultivated bacteria and performing single prokaryotic cell analysis. The current paper describes the methodological aspects of commercially available laser microdissection instruments and representative examples that demonstrate the advantages of this method for resolving a variety of issues in microbiology.
authors.affiliation: Federal Research and Clinical Center of Physical-Chemical Medicine of Federal Medical Biological Agency, 1a Malaya Pirogovskaya Str., Moscow 119435, Russia; Koltzov Institute of Developmental Biology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 26 Vavilov Str., Moscow 119334, Russia. Electronic address: olegpodgorny@inbox.ru.
authors.forename: Oleg V
authors.initials: OV
authors.lastname: Podgorny
authors.affiliation: Federal Research and Clinical Center of Physical-Chemical Medicine of Federal Medical Biological Agency, 1a Malaya Pirogovskaya Str., Moscow 119435, Russia.
authors.forename: Vassili N
authors.initials: VN
authors.lastname: Lazarev
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000502:physiology*; D061346:Laser Capture Microdissection / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D010944:Plants / Q000382:microbiology; D059010:Single-Cell Analysis / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Biofilm; Host–microorganism interactions; Laser microdissection; Single cell analysis