Life at high temperature observed in vitro upon laser heating of gold nanoparticles

Céline Molinaro, Maëlle Bénéfice, Aurore Gorlas, Violette Cunha, Hadrien M. L. Robert, Ryan Catchpole, Laurent Gallais, Patrick Forterre and Guillaume Baffou ()
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Céline Molinaro: Aix Marseille University, Centrale Marseille
Maëlle Bénéfice: Aix Marseille University, Centrale Marseille
Aurore Gorlas: Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC)
Violette Cunha: Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC)
Hadrien M. L. Robert: Aix Marseille University, Centrale Marseille
Ryan Catchpole: Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC)
Laurent Gallais: Aix Marseille University, Centrale Marseille
Patrick Forterre: Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC)
Guillaume Baffou: Aix Marseille University, Centrale Marseille

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Thermophiles are microorganisms that thrive at high temperature. Studying them can provide valuable information on how life has adapted to extreme conditions. However, high temperature conditions are difficult to achieve on conventional optical microscopes. Some home-made solutions have been proposed, all based on local resistive electric heating, but no simple commercial solution exists. In this article, we introduce the concept of microscale laser heating over the field of view of a microscope to achieve high temperature for the study of thermophiles, while maintaining the user environment in soft conditions. Microscale heating with moderate laser intensities is achieved using a substrate covered with gold nanoparticles, as biocompatible, efficient light absorbers. The influences of possible microscale fluid convection, cell confinement and centrifugal thermophoretic motion are discussed. The method is demonstrated with two species: (i) Geobacillus stearothermophilus, a motile thermophilic bacterium thriving around 65 °C, which we observed to germinate, grow and swim upon microscale heating and (ii) Sulfolobus shibatae, a hyperthermophilic archaeon living at the optimal temperature of 80 °C. This work opens the path toward simple and safe observation of thermophilic microorganisms using current and accessible microscopy tools.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33074-6

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