Atomic force microscopy: a nanoscopic view of microbial cell surfaces.

The atomic force microscope (AFM) is a powerful instrument for microbiological investigation. It has evolved from an imaging tool used to investigate microbial surfaces at high resolution in their physiological environment into a lab-on-a-tip device, which allows more quantitative analysis of biological samples (from molecules to cells) in aqueous liquids. Atomic force microscopy provides information about the nanoscale architecture of microbes and about the localization and interactions of their individual constituents. Microbial interactions play essential roles in biology, medicine, ecology, biotechnology, food science and contribute to phenomena as varied as bacterial infections, biofilm formation, and bacterial adhesion to surfaces. In this review, we focus on recent developments offered by the rapid advances in AFM imaging and force spectroscopy with emphasizes on microbial research.