Imaging of bacterial multicellular behaviour in biofilms in liquid by atmospheric scanning electron microscopy.

ABSTRACT: Biofilms are complex communities of microbes that attach to biotic or abiotic surfaces causing chronic infectious diseases. Within a biofilm, microbes are embedded in a self-produced soft extracellular matrix (ECM), which protects them from the host immune system and antibiotics. The nanoscale visualisation of delicate biofilms in liquid is challenging. Here, we develop atmospheric scanning electron microscopy (ASEM) to visualise Gram-positive and -negative bacterial biofilms immersed in aqueous solution. Biofilms cultured on electron-transparent film were directly imaged from below using the inverted SEM, allowing the formation of the region near the substrate to be studied at high resolution. We visualised intercellular nanostructures and the exocytosis of membrane vesicles, and linked t

SUBMITTER: Sugimoto S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4867632 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature