Present and future opportunities in the use of atomic force microscopy to address the physico-chemical properties of aquatic ecosystems at the nanoscale level

Document Type : Review

Author

• Carlos Marcuello

Instituto de Nanociencia y Materiales de Aragón (INMA), CSIC-Universidad de Zaragoza, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain; Laboratorio de Microscopias Avanzadas (LMA), Universidad de Zaragoza, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain

10.22034/iar.2022.1965012.1317

Abstract

Microorganisms interplay with their neighbors according their intrinsic cellular adhesion and membrane rigidity. The protein receptors located at the cellular membrane mediate specific recognition processes with biomolecules and others cells. This topic has generated great interest based on the huge variability displayed at different environmental conditions. Aquatic ecosystems present notably versatility of microorganisms and dissolved molecules that mutually influence in their viability, proliferation and biological performance. Biodiversity preservation of the current water reservoirs strongly depends on the gathering of these properties and their accurate interpretation. Bulk measurements from meso-scale techniques provide average information of aquatic microorganisms hidden relevant details. For this reason, it is opportune to devote high-throughput single molecule tools as atomic force microscopy (AFM) to determine the physico-chemical properties exhibited by individual aquatic microorganisms and thus, establish a full comprehension of all parameters that influence the state of aquatic ecosystems. The present work aims to highlight the potential applications and future perspectives of AFM for the study of all living entities involved in aquatic ecosystems to better understand their inherent characteristics at the single molecule level.

Keywords

• Aquatic ecosystems
• Atomic force microscopy (AFM)
• Force spectroscopy (FS)
• Nanoindentation
• Nanoscale
• Single molecule biophysics
• Young’s modulus

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