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Updated: May 31, 2026

Atomic Force Microscopy Combined with Infrared Spectroscopy as a Tool to Probe Single Bacterium Chemistry
Published on: September 15, 2020
Infrared spectromicroscopy of biochemistry in functional single cells
Luca Quaroni1, Theodora Zlateva
1Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen-PSI, CH-5232, Switzerland. luca.quaroni@psi.ch
Abstract:
Over the years Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy has been widely employed in the structural and functional characterization of biomolecules. The introduction of infrared (IR) microscopes and of synchrotron light sources has created expectations that FTIR could become a generally viable technique to study both structure and reactivity in vivo, inside single cells, by performing measurements that up to a few years ago were the preserve of in vitro experiments on purified macromolecules. In this review we present the state-of-the-art in the application of FTIR spectromicroscopy as a technique for the study of structure and dynamics in single cells, we discuss the performance requirements for this application and review developments in sample handling methods.
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