An OregonGreen488-labelled d-amino acid for visualizing peptidoglycan by super-resolution STED nanoscopy

Fluorescent d-amino acids (FDAAs) are molecular probes that are widely used for labelling the peptidoglycan layer of bacteria. When added to growing cells they are incorporated into the stem peptide by a transpeptidase reaction, allowing the timing and localization of peptidoglycan synthesis to be determined by fluorescence microscopy. Herein we describe the chemical synthesis of an OregonGreen488-labelled FDAA (OGDA). We also demonstrate that OGDA can be efficiently incorporated into the PG of Gram-positive and some Gram-negative bacteria, and imaged by super-resolution stimulated emission depletion (STED) nanoscopy at a resolution well below 100 nm.