Visualization of yeast single-cells on fabric surface with a fluorescent glucose and their isolation for culture.

An ultra-deep focusing range (UDF) fluorescent microscope system has been combined with a micromanipulation system to develop a viable cell detection-identification system applicable to microbes on environmental surfaces and products. Candida albicans yeast cells on a fabric sample surface were viably stained with a fluorescent glucose derivative, 2-[N-(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl)amino]-2-deoxy glucose (2-NBDG) and detected with a UDF fluorescent microscope. Visualized single-cells of C. albicans were picked in a glass microcapillary and transferred onto an agar medium. After the culture, the colony was assayed for DNA sequence to identify the isolate. This demonstrates a potential application to the study of unknown environmental microorganisms.