Looking inside the box: using Raman microspectroscopy to deconstruct microbial biomass stoichiometry one cell at a time.

ABSTRACT: Stoichiometry of microbial biomass is a key determinant of nutrient recycling in a wide variety of ecosystems. However, little is known about the underlying causes of variance in microbial biomass stoichiometry. This is primarily because of technological constraints limiting the analysis of macromolecular composition to large quantities of microbial biomass. Here, we use Raman microspectroscopy (MS), to analyze the macromolecular composition of single cells of two species of bacteria grown on minimal media over a wide range of resource stoichiometry. We show that macromolecular composition, determined from a subset of identified peaks within the Raman spectra, was consistent with macromolecular composition determined using traditional analytical methods. In addition, macromolecular composi

SUBMITTER: Hall EK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3105696 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature