Application of atomic force microscopy (AFM) to study bacterial biofilms

Abstract:

Because of the nanometre resolution, piconewton force sensitivity, label-free technique and the ability to operate in liquid environments, atomic force microscopy (AFM) has emerged as a powerful tool to explore the biofilm development processes. AFM provides three-dimensional topography and structural details of biofilm surfaces under in-situ conditions. It also helps to generate key information on the mechanical properties of biofilm surfaces, such as elasticity and stickiness. Additionally, single-molecule and single-cell force spectroscopies can be applied to measure the strength of adhesion, attraction, and repulsion forces between cell-solid and cell-cell surfaces. This paper outlined the basic principle of AFM technique and introduced recent advances in the application of AFM for the investigation of ultra-morphological, mechanical and interactive properties of biofilms. Furthermore, the existing problems and future prospects were discussed.

Key words:atomic force microscopy (AFM), bacterial biofilms, ultra-morphology, mechanical properties, interaction forces