Research Article

Understanding SERS of bacteria†

  1. S. Efrima‡,
  2. L. Zeiri*

Article first published online: 27 OCT 2008

DOI: 10.1002/jrs.2121

Issue

Journal of Raman Spectroscopy

Journal of Raman Spectroscopy

Volume 40, Issue 3, pages 277–288, March 2009

Additional Information

How to Cite

Efrima, S. and Zeiri, L. (2009), Understanding SERS of bacteria. J. Raman Spectrosc., 40: 277–288. doi: 10.1002/jrs.2121

Author Information

  1. Department of Chemistry and the Ilse Katz Center for Meso and Nanoscale Science and Technology, Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel

  1. ‡

    Deceased. This paper is dedicated to the memory of Prof. Shlomo Efrima who passed away on 26.3.85. Prof. Shlomo Efrima was one of the pioneering investigators in the field of SERS. He contributed to one of the first theoretical models that explained the SERS mechanism and continued with vast experimental work on SERS. In his last years, a large portion of his work was devoted to study the SERS of bacteria and other biological systems.

*Department of Chemistry and the Ilse Katz Center for Meso and Nanoscale Science and Technology, Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel.

  1. †

    This article was published online on 27 October 2008. An error was subsequently identified. This notice is included in the online and print versions to indicate that both have been corrected [12th February 2009].

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 6 MAR 2009
  2. Article first published online: 27 OCT 2008
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 10 AUG 2008
  4. Manuscript Received: 16 JUL 2008

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Keywords:

  • SERS;
  • bacteria;
  • Raman;
  • flavins

Abstract

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has been suggested as a powerful tool to identify bacteria, drawing from its high fingerprint (vibrational) information content, its extreme sensitivity (down to the single molecule level) and its obliviousness to the aqueous environment intrinsic to biological systems. We review here in a comparative manner the various studies that attempted to utilize SERS for this important goal in light of the work carried out by our own group over the past 10 years or so. We show that SERS has an additional major advantage, namely, it introduces a new dimension of selectivity, which, on the one hand, makes it even more suitable as an analytical tool, but on the other hand, it requires gaining control of the precise manner in which the SERS-active metal centers are produced and brought into contact with the micro-organism. Our emphasis in this review is on understanding the spectra in terms of the nature of the SERS-active centers and their placement within the bacterium. On the interpretation and assignment of the spectra, we constantly keep in mind the final goal of bacteria identification. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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