Near-field optical imaging of unstained bacteria: comparison with normal atomic force and far-field optical microscopy in air and aqueous media

• Published in: Ultramicroscopy 1998-03, Vol.71 (1), p.321-325
• Main Authors: Ben-Ami, Nily, Radko, Anna, Ben-Ami, Udi, Lieberman, Klony, Rothman, Zvi, Rabin, Itzhak, Lewis, Aaron
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Atomic force microscopes; Bacillus megaterium - ultrastructure; Bacteria; Biological and medical sciences; Exact sciences and technology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Hot Temperature; Instruments, apparatus, components and techniques common to several branches of physics and astronomy; Microbial ecology; Microscopy - instrumentation; Microscopy - methods; Microscopy, Atomic Force; Microscopy, Confocal; Near-field scanning optical microscopes; Physics; Scanning probe microscopes, components and techniques; Various environments (extraatmospheric space, air, water); Water
• ISSN: 0304-3991; 1879-2723
• DOI: 10.1016/S0304-3991(97)00110-1

Simultaneous near-field scanning optical and atomic force imaging of bacteria is presented. The bacteria imaged in these studies were unstained. The near-field optical images had excellent signal-to-noise and showed excellent contrast even in these unstained specimens. The images obtained were interpreted in terms of the images that have been obtained by transmission electron microscopy and X-ray imaging. The results show that bacterial near-field optical imaging is going to be a very important tool in the arsenal of the bacteriologist both in terms of understanding the fundamental processes in the life cycle of bacteria with and without cytochemical staining and in terms of clinical diagnostic applications.