Abstract
The atomic force microscope (AFM) is widely used for studying the surface morphology and growth of live cells. There are relatively fewer reports on the AFM imaging of yeast cells [1] (Kasas and Ikai, 1995), [2] (Gad and Ikai, 1995). Yeasts have thick and mechanically strong cell walls and are therefore difficult to attach to a solid substrate. In this report, a new immobilization technique for the height mode imaging of living yeast cells in solid media using AFM is presented. The proposed technique allows the cell surface to be almost completely exposed to the environment and studied using AFM. Apart from the new immobilization protocol, for the first time, height mode imaging of live yeast cell surface in intermittent contact mode is presented in this report. Stable and reproducible imaging over a 10-h time span is observed. A significant improvement in operational stability will facilitate the investigation of growth patterns and surface patterns of yeast cells.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 254-258 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Ultramicroscopy |
Volume | 110 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 2010 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This research was partially supported by NSF grants CMMI 0900113 and CMMI 0814615.
Keywords
- Atomic force microscopy
- Intermittent contact mode
- Live cells
- Yeast