Are the Soft, Liquid-Like Structures Detected around Bacteria by Ambient Dynamic Atomic Force Microscopy Capsules?

Méndez-Vilas, A.; Labajos-Broncano, L.; Perera-Núñez, J.; González-Martı́n, M.L.

doi:10.1128/aem.01262-10

Cited by 6 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 34 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…2A-B). Notably, while solitary cells were surrounded by miniscule droplets (possibly similar to those reported by Mendez-Vilas et al 17 ), larger aggregates (of ~100 cells) were surrounded by large droplets measuring tens of µms in diameter. Microscopic wetness was preferentially retained around bacterial cells for more than 24h, while uncolonized surface areas were completely dry.…”

Section: Microscopic Droplet Formation Around Bacterial Cells and Aggsupporting

confidence: 83%

“…The microscopic hydration conditions around bacterial cells are expected to significantly affect cell survival in the largest terrestrial microbial habitats -soil, root, and leaf surfaces -that experience recurring wet-dry cycles. Only a few studies have attempted to characterize the microscopic hydration conditions surrounding cells on a drying surface under moderate RH and deliquescence's involvement in this process (a nice exception are the soft liquid-like substances wrapped around cells reported by Mendez-Vilas et al 17 ). Bacterial survival in deliquescent wetness has mainly been studied in extremely dry deserts 18,19 and on Mars analog environments 20,21 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Bacterial survival in microscopic droplets

Grinberg

Orevi

Steinberg

et al. 2019

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Plant leaves constitute a huge microbial habitat of global importance. How microorganisms survive the dry daytime on leaves and avoid desiccation is not wellunderstood. There is evidence that microscopic wetness in the form of thin films and micrometer-sized droplets, invisible to the naked eye, persists on leaves during daytime due to deliquescence -the absorption of water until dissolution -of hygroscopic aerosols. Here we study how such microscopic wetness affects cell survival. We show that, on surfaces drying under moderate humidity, stable microdroplets form around bacterial aggregates due to deliquescence and capillary pinning. Notably, droplet-size increases with aggregate-size and the survival of cells is higher the larger the droplet. This phenomenon was observed for 13 different bacterial species, two of which -Pseudomonas fluorescens and P. putida -were studied in depth. Microdroplet formation around aggregates are likely key to bacterial survival in a variety of unsaturated microbial habitats, including leaf surfaces.

show abstract

Section: Microscopic Droplet Formation Around Bacterial Cells and Aggsupporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacterial survival in microscopic droplets

Grinberg

Orevi

Steinberg

et al. 2019

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Bacterial survival in deliquescent wetness has mainly been studied in extremely dry deserts (Davila et al, 2008; Davila et al, 2013) and on Mars analog environments (Nuding et al, 2017; Stevens et al, 2019). Soft liquid-like substances wrapped around cells, whose formation was suggested to be due to deliquescence of solute components, were reported (Méndez-Vilas et al, 2011). Yet, the interplay between droplet formation, bacterial surface colonization, and survival, has not been studied systematically.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacterial survival in microscopic surface wetness

Grinberg

Orevi

Steinberg

et al. 2019

eLife

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Plant leaves constitute a huge microbial habitat of global importance. How microorganisms survive the dry daytime on leaves and avoid desiccation is not well understood. There is evidence that microscopic surface wetness in the form of thin films and micrometer-sized droplets, invisible to the naked eye, persists on leaves during daytime due to deliquescence – the absorption of water until dissolution – of hygroscopic aerosols. Here, we study how such microscopic wetness affects cell survival. We show that, on surfaces drying under moderate humidity, stable microdroplets form around bacterial aggregates due to capillary pinning and deliquescence. Notably, droplet-size increases with aggregate-size, and cell survival is higher the larger the droplet. This phenomenon was observed for 13 bacterial species, two of which – Pseudomonas fluorescens and P. putida – were studied in depth. Microdroplet formation around aggregates is likely key to bacterial survival in a variety of unsaturated microbial habitats, including leaf surfaces.

show abstract

“…Previous work with AFM has revealed liquid-like substances surrounding the bacterial cells under ambient conditions, and these substances used to be considered bacterial capsules (22,23). However, recent advances have pointed out that these liquid-like structures are in fact deliquescent water instead of real bacterial capsules (13). Thus, identification of the real bacterial capsule under AFM remains elusive.…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Some frequently used biological buffers often contain deliquescent components, such as K 2 HPO 4 , HEPES, CaCl 2 , and NaCl (13). The use of these buffers to prepare the samples often brought about the liquids surrounding the bacterial cells.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%