Atomic force microscopy studies of living bacterial cells in native soil and permafrost

The most complicated problem in microbiology is to study microorganisms in the native environment. Native biotopes (soils etc.) are complex mixture of many environments that are very heterogenic and have different physicochemical, mineralogical and other properties. Microorganisms form and change the environmental during their life, as well as the environment act on cells. These interactions reflect on cell morphology and physiology. In our experiments we demonstrated the possibility to distinguish cells from mineral particles in active soil samples using multimode atomic force microscope. Wide variety of atomic force microscopy modes might help in this complicated task, namely: force curve mapping, measuring adhesion properties, study in liquid experiments as well as the treatment of cells and samples by various medical and chemical reagents. Some model investigations with soil bacteria strains in different physiological state should be done for adequate recognition and interpretation of microbial cells in native mineral environment using scanning probe microscopy.