Detection of bioluminescence from individual bacterial cells: a comparison of two different low-light imaging systems
✍ Scribed by Sternberg, Claus ;Eberl, Leo ;Poulsen, Lars Kongsbak ;Molin, Søren
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1997
- Weight
- 293 KB
- Volume
- 12
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0884-3996
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Detection of very low light levels arising from individual cells of the naturally bioluminescent bacterium
Vibrio fischeri as well as from a luminescence-marked Pseudomonas putida strain was achieved by the aid of two different camera systems. Using a liquid nitrogen-cooled slowscan CCD (charge-coupled device) camera we were able to detect single-cell bioluminescence within 1 min, and the pictures obtained were of good resolution. In contrast, employing a photon-counting video camera we were able to detect bioluminescent cells within 10 seconds, but at the expense of spatial resolution. This study demonstrates the feasibility of microscopic single cell analysis employing bioluminescence as reporter system.