Fluorescent d-Amino Acids for Super-resolution Microscopy of the Bacterial Cell Wall

ACS Chem Biol. 2022 Sep 16;17(9):2418-2424. doi: 10.1021/acschembio.2c00496. Epub 2022 Aug 22.

Abstract

Fluorescent d-amino acids (FDAAs) have previously been developed to enable in situ highlighting of locations of bacterial cell wall growth. Most bacterial cells lie at the edge of the diffraction limit of visible light; thus, resolving the precise details of peptidoglycan (PG) biosynthesis requires super-resolution microscopy after probe incorporation. Single molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) has stringent requirements on the fluorophore photophysical properties and therefore has remained challenging in this context. Here, we report the synthesis and characterization of new FDAAs compatible with one-step labeling and SMLM imaging. We demonstrate the incorporation of our probes and their utility for visualizing PG at the nanoscale in Gram-negative, Gram-positive, and mycobacteria species. This improved FDAA toolkit will endow researchers with a nanoscale perspective on the spatial distribution of PG biosynthesis for a broad range of bacterial species.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acids* / metabolism
  • Bacteria / metabolism
  • Cell Wall / metabolism
  • Fluorescent Dyes / chemistry
  • Microscopy
  • Peptidoglycan* / metabolism
  • Single Molecule Imaging / methods

Substances

  • Amino Acids
  • Fluorescent Dyes
  • Peptidoglycan