ABSTRACT

This chapter demonstrates the capabilities of atomic force microscopy (AFM) in probing the architecture and assembly of bacterial surfaces and integument structures, and their evolvement during bacterial life cycles, as well as in response to environmental changes. AFM provides high-resolution topographical information about the spatial and temporal distribution of macromolecules in biological samples. By observing spore coat high-resolution structures, AFM analysis could be utilized to reconstruct the environmental conditions that were present during spore formation. The development and application of high-resolution imaging techniques, which could address spatially explicit bacterial spore coat protein architecture at nanometre resolution under physiological conditions, are of considerable importance. The chapter utilizes in vitro AFM methods for molecular-scale examination of spore coat and germ cell wall dynamics during spore germination and outgrowth. In vitro AFM visualization of germling emergence allowed high-resolution visualization of nascent vegetative cell surface structure.