Presentation Information
[3P104]Direct visualization of microbial cell walls with nanometer-scale resolution using atomic force microscopy
*Keisuke Miyazawa1,2, Takeshi Fukuma1,2 (1. Kanazawa University, 2. WPI NanoLSI)
Organisms such as microorganisms and plants have cell walls that encircle their cells and execute diverse functions by generating turger pressure inside the cell. For instance, in Colletotrichum orbiculare, which is one of a type of plant-pathogenic fungus, spores differentiate into appressoriums on the plant surface and make a turger pressure to punch a hole in the plant cell wall for mycelium to invade. In this study, we performed atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurement, and the obtained high resolution AFM images of the cell wall surface of both wild-type and melanin mutant appressoria, revealing the fine fibrous structures that make up the cell wall with a resolution of less than 10 nm. Our analysis found that the diameter of the fibrous structures was larger in the wild-type cell wall than in the melanin mutant, forming a robust membrane structure that creates strong turger pressure inside the appressorium.