Print Email Facebook Twitter Probing nanomotion of single bacteria with graphene drums Title Probing nanomotion of single bacteria with graphene drums Author Roslon, I.E. (TU Delft Dynamics of Micro and Nano Systems) Japaridze, A. (TU Delft Dynamics of Micro and Nano Systems) Steeneken, P.G. (TU Delft Dynamics of Micro and Nano Systems; TU Delft QN/Steeneken Lab) Dekker, C. (TU Delft BN/Cees Dekker Lab) Alijani, F. (TU Delft Dynamics of Micro and Nano Systems) Date 2022 Abstract Motion is a key characteristic of every form of life1. Even at the microscale, it has been reported that colonies of bacteria can generate nanomotion on mechanical cantilevers2, but the origin of these nanoscale vibrations has remained unresolved3,4. Here, we present a new technique using drums made of ultrathin bilayer graphene, where the nanomotion of single bacteria can be measured in its aqueous growth environment. A single Escherichia coli cell is found to generate random oscillations with amplitudes of up to 60 nm, exerting forces of up to 6 nN to its environment. Using mutant strains that differ by single gene deletions that affect motility, we are able to pinpoint the bacterial flagella as the main source of nanomotion. By real-time tracing of changes in nanomotion on administering antibiotics, we demonstrate that graphene drums can perform antibiotic susceptibility testing with single-cell sensitivity. These findings deepen our understanding of processes underlying cellular dynamics, and pave the way towards high-throughput and parallelized rapid screening of the effectiveness of antibiotics in bacterial infections with graphene devices. To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:cc34249f-db98-4743-83ad-e8d7a119dd6a DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-022-01111-6 Embargo date 2023-07-01 ISSN 1748-3387 Source Nature Nanotechnology, 17 (6), 637-642 Bibliographical note Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public. Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type journal article Rights © 2022 I.E. Roslon, A. Japaridze, P.G. Steeneken, C. Dekker, F. Alijani Files PDF s41565_022_01111_6.pdf 2.74 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:cc34249f-db98-4743-83ad-e8d7a119dd6a/datastream/OBJ/view