High Resolution Imaging Mass Spectrometry of Bacterial Microcolonies at Ecological Scales

Microbes interact with the world around them at the chemical level. However, directly examining the chemical exchange between microbes, and microbes and their environment, at ecological scales, i.e. the scale of a single bacterial cell or small groups of cells, remains a key challenge. Here we addre...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inbioRxiv
Main Authors Rita De Cassia Pessotti, Hansen, Bridget L, Zacharia, Vineetha M, Polyakov, Daniel, Traxler, Matthew F
Format Paper
LanguageEnglish
Published Cold Spring Harbor Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press 28.07.2019
Subjects
Bacteria
Ions
Mass spectrometry
Mass spectroscopy
Metabolites
Scientific imaging
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Microbes interact with the world around them at the chemical level. However, directly examining the chemical exchange between microbes, and microbes and their environment, at ecological scales, i.e. the scale of a single bacterial cell or small groups of cells, remains a key challenge. Here we address this obstacle by presenting a methodology that enables Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) of bacterial microcolonies. By combining optimized sample preparation with sub-atmospheric pressure MALDI, we demonstrate that chemical output from groups of as few as ~50 cells can be visualized with MALDI-IMS. Application of this methodology to Bacillus subtilis and Streptomyces coelicolor revealed heterogeneity in chemical output across microcolonies, and asymmetrical metabolite production when cells grew within physiological gradients produced by Medicago sativa roots. Taken together, these results indicate that MALDI-IMS can readily visualize metabolites made by very small assemblages of bacterial cells, and that even these small groups of cells can differentially produce metabolites in response to local chemical gradients.
DOI:10.1101/717066