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Object-adapted optical trapping and shape-tracking of energy-switching helical bacteria

Nature Photonics volume 6, pages 680–686 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

Optical tweezers are a flexible manipulation tool used to grab micro-objects at a specific point, but a controlled manipulation of objects with more complex or changing shapes is hardly possible. Here, we demonstrate, by time-sharing optical forces, that it is possible to adapt the shape of the trapping potential to the shape of an elongated helical bacterium. In contrast to most other trapped objects, this structure can continuously change its helical shape (and therefore its mechanical energy), making trapping it much more difficult than trapping tiny non-living objects. The shape deformations of the only 200-nm-thin bacterium (Spiroplasma) are measured space-resolved at 800 Hz by exploiting local phase differences in coherently scattered trapping light. By localizing each slope of the bacterium we generate high-contrast, super-resolution movies in three dimensions, without any object staining. This approach will help in investigating the nanomechanics of single wall-less bacteria while reacting to external stimuli on a broad temporal bandwidth.

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Figure 1: Principles of space-variant trapping and tracking of a complex three-dimensional structure.
Figure 2: Interferometric tracking signals varying with time.
Figure 3: Three-dimensional representation of measured and simulated shape deformations.
Figure 4: Time-dependent transitions between ground and excited levels of mechanical energy.
Figure 5: Local phase changes induced by the bacterium.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank S. Trachtenberg, F. Hamprecht, J. Huisken and L. Friedrich for stimulating discussions, as well as J. Korvink, B. Tränkle, F. Fahrbach, F. Kohler, B. Landenberger and B. Bosworth for a careful reading of the manuscript. This study was supported by the Excellence Initiative of the German Federal and State Governments (EXC 294) and by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (grant nos RO 3615/1 and RO 3615/2).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microsystems Engineering-IMTEK, Laboratory for Bio- and Nano-Photonics, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, 79110, Germany

    Matthias Koch & Alexander Rohrbach

  2. Centre for Biological Signalling Studies (BIOSS), University of Freiburg, Freiburg, 79104, Germany

    Alexander Rohrbach

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  1. Matthias Koch
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  2. Alexander Rohrbach
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Contributions

M.K. performed experiments and simulations, analysed data and prepared all graphs. A.R. initiated and supervised the project, designed the system, developed the theory and wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Alexander Rohrbach.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Koch, M., Rohrbach, A. Object-adapted optical trapping and shape-tracking of energy-switching helical bacteria. Nature Photon 6, 680–686 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2012.232

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