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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 Mar 20.
Published in final edited form as: Nat Commun. 2014 Mar 7;5:3442. doi: 10.1038/ncomms4442

Figure 3. Analysis of cell membrane fluidity.

Figure 3

(a) Nile Red fluorescence intensity of B. subtilis cells grown in room temperature, 30°C or 48°C followed by shift to 30°C, was measured fluorometrically. To prevent rapid adaptation of membrane fluidity68, the measurements were carried out with a lipid desaturase (des) deficient strain. The curves represent average values with standard deviation of 3 replicate measurements. Strain used: B. subtilis HB5134 (Δdes). (b) Microscopic analysis of fluid membrane domains using Laurdan generalised polarisation. The images show a colour-coded Laurdan generalised polarisation (GP) intensity map in which red indicates regions of increased fluidity. Membrane fluidity is determined for untreated B. subtilis cells (left panel) and cells treated with CCCP (right panel). See also Supplementary Fig. 10 for the measurement of the average fluidity change. (c) Colocalization of Nile Red foci and Laurdan GP in CCCP-treated B. subtilis cells. Strain used: B. subtilis 168 (wild type). Scale bar, 2 μm.