Exploring the potential of stable isotope (resonance) raman microspectroscopy and SERS for the analysis of microorganisms at single cell level.

Raman microspectroscopy is a prime tool to characterize the molecular and isotopic composition of microbial cells. However, low sensitivity and long acquisition times limit a broad applicability of the method in environmental analysis. In this study, we explore the potential, the applicability and the limitations of stable isotope Raman microspectroscopy (SIRM), resonance SIRM, and SIRM in combination with surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) for the characterization of single bacterial cells. The latter two techniques have the potential to significantly increase sensitivity and decrease measurement times in SIRM, but to date there are no (SERS-SIRM) or only a limited number (resonance SIRM) of studies in environmental microbiology. The analyzed microorganisms were grown with substrates fully labeled with the stable isotopes 13C or 2H and compounds with natural abundance of atomic isotopes (12C 98.89% or 1H 99.9844%, designated as 12C- or 1H-, respectively). Raman bands of bacterial cell compounds in stable isotope-labeled microorganisms exhibited a characteristic red-shift in the spectra. In particular the sharp phenylalanine band was found to be an applicable marker band for SIRM analysis of the Deltaproteobacterium strain N47 growing anaerobically on 13C-naphthalene. The study of G. metallireducens grown with 13C- and 2H-acetate showed that the information on the chromophore cytochrome c obtained by resonance SIRM at 532 nm excitation wavelength can be successfully complemented by whole-organism fingerprints of bacteria cells achieved by regular SIRM after photobleaching. Furthermore, we present here for the first time the reproducible SERS analysis of microbial cells labeled with stable isotopes. Escherichia coli strain DSM 1116 cultivated with 12C- or 13C-glucose was used as a model organism. Silver nanoparticles synthesized in situ were applied as SERS media. We observed a reproducible red-shift of an adenine-related marker band from 733 cm 1 to 720 cm 1 in SERS spectra for 13C-labbeled cells. Additionally, Raman measurements of 12C/13C-glucose and -phenylalanine mixtures were performed to elucidate the feasibility of SIRM for nondestructive quantitative and spatially-resolved analysis. The performed analysis of isotopically labeled microbial cells with SERS- and resonance SIRM paves the way towards novel approaches to apply Raman microspectroscopy in environmental process studies

Stable-isotope Raman microspectroscopy for the analysis of soil organic matter.

We examined the potential of stable-isotope Raman microspectroscopy (SIRM) for the evaluation of differently enriched C-13-labeled humic acids as model substances for soil organic matter (SOM). The SOM itself can be linked to the soil water holding capacity. Therefore, artificial humic acids (HA) with known isotopic compositions were synthesized and analyzed by means of SIRM. By performing a pregraphitization, a suitable analysis method was developed to cope with the high fluorescence background. Results were verified against isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS). The limit of quantification was 2.1 x 10(-1 13)C/C (tot) for the total region and 3.2 x 10(-2 13)C/C (tot) for a linear correlation up to 0.25 C-13/C (tot). Complementary nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS) analysis indicated small-scale heterogeneity within the dry sample material, even though-owing to sample topography and occurring matrix effects-obtained values deviated in magnitude from those of IRMS and SIRM. Our study shows that SIRM is well-suited for the analysis of stable isotope-labeled HA. This method requires no specific sample preparation and can provide information with a spatial resolution in the micrometer range

Surface Sensitive Study To Determine the Reactivity of Soot with the Focus on the European Emission Standards IV and VI

Diesel soot (Euro IV and Euro VI) was investigated with spectroscopic methods such as near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS). C and O K-edge NEXAFS show that structural disorder on the surface is accompanied by a higher amount of oxygen functional groups. O K-edge NEXAFS and O1s XPS results are discussed with the aim to elucidate the nature of the oxygen surface species. The analysis of the data presented here allows the postulation of a hypothetical structure for soot samples emitted by diesel engines

Genetically controlled lysosomal entrapment of superparamagnetic ferritin for multimodal and multiscale imaging and actuation with low tissue attenuation.

Nanomaterials are of enormous value for biomedical applications because of their customizable features. However, the material properties of nanomaterials can be altered substantially by interactions with tissue thus making it important to assess them in the specific biological context to understand and tailor their effects. Here, a genetically controlled system is optimized for cellular uptake of superparamagnetic ferritin and subsequent trafficking to lysosomes. High local concentrations of photoabsorbing magnetoferritin give robust contrast in optoacoustic imaging and allow for selective photoablation of cells overexpressing ferritin receptors. Genetically controlled uptake of the biomagnetic nanoparticles also strongly enhances third-harmonic generation due to the change of refractive index caused by the magnetite-protein interface of ferritins entrapped in lysosomes. Selective uptake of magnetoferritin furthermore enables sensitive detection of receptor-expressing cells by magnetic resonance imaging, as well as efficient magnetic cell sorting and manipulation. Surprisingly, a substantial increase in the blocking temperature of lysosomally entrapped magnetoferritin is observed, which allows for specific ablation of genetically defined cell populations by local magnetic hyperthermia. The subcellular confinement of superparamagnetic ferritins thus enhances their physical properties to empower genetically controlled interrogation of cellular processes with deep tissue penetration