Atomic force microscopy imaging of dried or living bacteria.

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to obtain micrographs of dried bacteria in air, and of living ones in their culture medium. Images of dried bacteria were very similar to images obtained elsewhere by the much more complicated cryoetching preparation technique for transmission electron microscopy. Living bacteria were immobilized on a poly-L-lysine film, and directly observed in their culture medium at a resolution unattainable by any other technique applicable to living material. The images were similar to those obtained in scanning electron microscopy where the specimen must be fixed, dried and coated with conductive material, and as a result, no longer viable.