Quantitative SIMS Imaging of Agar-Based Microbial Communities.

ABSTRACT: After several decades of widespread use for mapping elemental ions and small molecular fragments in surface science, secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) has emerged as a powerful analytical tool for molecular imaging in biology. Biomolecular SIMS imaging has primarily been used as a qualitative technique; although the distribution of a single analyte can be accurately determined, it is difficult to map the absolute quantity of a compound or even to compare the relative abundance of one molecular species to that of another. We describe a method for quantitative SIMS imaging of small molecules in agar-based microbial communities. The microbes are cultivated on a thin film of agar, dried under nitrogen, and imaged directly with SIMS. By use of optical microscopy, we show that the area of t

SUBMITTER: Dunham SJB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5930052 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature