Premium
Surface enhanced Raman scattering on Tardigrada – towards monitoring and imaging molecular structures in live cryptobiotic organisms
Author(s) -
Kneipp Harald,
Møbjerg Nadja,
Jørgensen Aslak,
Bohr Henrik G.,
HélixNielsen Claus,
Kneipp Janina,
Kneipp Katrin
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of biophotonics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.877
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1864-0648
pISSN - 1864-063X
DOI - 10.1002/jbio.201200206
Subject(s) - raman scattering , tardigrada , nanotechnology , raman spectroscopy , atomic force microscopy , chemistry , biophysics , materials science , biology , physics , optics , ecology
Tardigrades are microscopic metazoans which are able to survive extreme physical and chemical conditions by entering a stress tolerant state called cryptobiosis. At present, the molecular mechanisms behind cryptobiosis are still poorly understood. We show that surface enhanced Raman scattering supported by plasmonic gold nanoparticles can measure molecular constituents and their local distribution in live tardigrades. Surface enhanced Raman signatures allow to differentiate between two species and indicate molecular structural differences between tardigrades in water and in a dry state. This opens new avenues for exploring cryptobiosis by studying molecular changes in live cryptobiotic organisms. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)