Original article
Raman microspectroscopy for species identification and mapping within bacterial biofilms
1 The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, 275 Hutchison Rd., Rochester, NY 14627, USA
2 Center for Oral Biology, University of Rochester Medical Center, 601 Elmwood Ave., Rochester, NY 14642, USA
AMB Express 2012, 2:35 doi:10.1186/2191-0855-2-35
Published: 13 July 2012Abstract
A new method of mapping multiple species of oral bacteria in intact biofilms has been developed, using the optical technique of confocal Raman microscopy. A species classification algorithm, developed on dried biofilms, was used to analyze spectra of hydrated biofilms containing two microbial species central to dental health: Streptococcus sanguinis and Streptococcus mutans. The algorithm transferred successfully to the hydrated environment, correctly identifying the species of origin of single-species biofilms. We then used the algorithm successfully both to detect the presence of two species in mixed biofilms and to create spatial maps within these biofilms.
