Electron holography of bacterial cell in liquid

Researchers at U.S. Ames Laboratory, Imperial College London and Ernst Ruska-Center for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons and Peter Grunberg Institute have used Hummingbird Scientific’s continuous liquid cell platform to demonstrate the first holographic imaging of bacterial and magnetic particles in liquid.

The effect of electromagnetic fields in the biological system has been poorly understood. The researcher performed off-axis holography imaging of hydrated cells of Magentospirillum magneticum strain AMB-1 and assemblies of magnetic nanoparticles. They were able to capture electron holograms to show interference fringe contrast to allow reconstruction of the phase shift of the electron wave and mapping of the magnetic induction from bacterial magnetite nanocrystals. The development of this technique could potentially help in the future studies of solid-liquid interfaces, biomineralization and protein aggregation.

Reference: Tanya Prozorov et al. Off-axis electron holography of bacterial cells and magnetic nanoparticles in liquid. Journal of The Royal Society Interface (2017). Abstract

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