Application of lyophilization to prepare the nitrifying bacterial biofilm for imaging with scanning electron microscopy

Structure of bacterial biofilms may be investigated using several variants of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). We apply lyophilization to prepare nitrifying bacterial biofilm for conventional SEM imaging in high-vacuum mode (CSEM). We therefore replace standard biofilm fixation in glutaraldehyde cross-linking, ethanol dehydration, and critical-point drying (CPD) with less-invasive low-temperature drying by sublimation in vacuum. We compare this approach with: (1) standard preparation with glutaraldehyde fixation, ethanol dehydration, and CPD before CSEM, (2) cryo-sputter preparation of rapidly frozen biofilm in hydrated state (cryo-SEM), and (3) in situ observation without any sample pretreatment in environmental SEM. Combined imaging with these modalities revealed two distinct immobilization patterns on the polyurethane foam: (1) large irregular aggregates (flocs) of bacterial biofilm that exist as irregular biofilm fragments, rope-like structures, or biofilm layers on the foam surface; (2) biofilm threads adherent to the surface of polyurethane foam. Our results indicate that lyophilization was suitable for preservation of bacterial cells and many forms of structure of extracellular matrix. The lyophilized material could be imaged with high resolution (using CSEM) to generate structural information complementary to that obtained with other SEM techniques.