Single-molecule fluorescence (SMF) permits imaging with nanometer-scale resolution. This technique is particularly useful for cellular imaging as it provides a non-invasive, minimally perturbative means to examine macromolecular localization and dynamics, even in live cells. Here, we demonstrate that nanometer-scale SMF imaging can be extended to a new category of experiments: intracellular imaging of live, obligate anaerobic cells on the benchtop. We investigate the starch-utilization system (Sus) proteins in the gut symbiont Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron and discuss three different labels that we implemented to detect these proteins: fluorescent proteins, the tetracysteine-based FlAsH tag, and the enzymatic HaloTag.

Date Published: 22 February 2013
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 8590, Single Molecule Spectroscopy and Superresolution Imaging VI, 85900K (22 February 2013); doi: 10.1117/12.2004204

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8590:
Single Molecule Spectroscopy and Superresolution Imaging VI
Jörg Enderlein; Ingo Gregor; Zygmunt Karol Gryczynski; Rainer Erdmann; Felix Koberling, Editor(s)