Staphylococcus stand out because they belong to a diverse group of bacteria that cause diseases ranging from skin infections to bacteremia. Staphylococcus aureus can cause a range of serious infections, with high rates of morbidity and mortality. This pathogenicity reflects its ability to produce a variety of toxins, and to firmly adhere to prosthetic materials, apart from the capacity to develop resistance to antimicrobial agents.  Among infections caused by S. aureus are sialadenitis, osteomyelitis, endocarditis, muscle and brain abscesses. These conditions may be targets for future clinical use of T. fagifolia derivatives, which prevent the growth of methicillin-resistant bacteria (MRSA) and have low mammalian toxicity.

The morphological effect of a fraction of the extract of T. fagifolia on S. aureus ATCC 29213 cells is shown in the figure below. Changes in the appearance in the cell envelope of treated bacteria are notable: it was found that the treated bacteria had increased roughness on the cell surface compared to the smooth surfaces of the nontreated bacteria, and treated bacteria significantly increased in size.

The work was carried out by doctoral student Alyne Araujo, under the supervision of Dr. José Roberto Leite, of the Biotec (Centre for Biodiversity Research and Biotechnology) research group in the city of Parnaíba, Brazil. Said Dr. Leite: 

"The images showed for the first time alterations caused by these natural products in bacteria of this genus. The TT-AFM has been in our lab a short time, and is already producing published results in a number of projects."

The project of Biotec is in partnership with researchers from the UCIBIO@Requimte lab, University of Porto, Portugal. The publication of this work is available online.

The TT-AFM is AFMWorkshop's most popular and multi-use AFM.  High resolution scanning is possible with a Z noise floor of .1nm. Multiple scanning modes, including vibrating, non-vibrating, phase and LFM are all standard.  The TT-AFM can utilize almost any manufacturer's probes, and can accomodate sample sizes up to 1"x1"x1/4". 

 

Operating software is open-source, and the AFM's design is open architecture.  Users can modify as much or as little of their system as desired. A high-performance video optical microscope allows users to zoom to 400X with 2 um resolution, facilitating easy laser alignment and localization of sample areas for scanning. The AFM's light lever is completely open, a great feature in Educational situations. Probe exchange is swift.

 

The TT-AFM was intentionally designed to meet high- performance needs for a low cost. It's an extremely versatile and robust AFM suitable for research, industry and education.  We invite you to view some of the TT-AFM's images and to learn more about the TT-AFM's capabilities.