Relaxometry for Bacteria’s Response to Antibiotics

Relaxometry for detecting free radical generation during Bacteria’s response to antibiotics

Carbon (2022)

In this study, a novel application of quantum sensing using nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamonds provided a groundbreaking method to detect free radical generation at the scale of single bacteria, particularly in response to antibiotics. This technique, leveraging optical nanoscale magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), revealed that radical generation in Staphylococcus aureus increases with UV irradiation and antibiotic (vancomycin) exposure, and it varies according to the antibiotic's dose. By employing ensembles of NV centers, the research captured the dynamic process of radical formation near individual bacteria throughout the experiments. This approach not only allowed for observing free radical concentrations within nanoscale voxels around the diamond particles but also determined the precise timing of radical generation depending on the antibiotic dosage. This single-cell-level insight into the bacterial response to antibiotics is invaluable for researching drug resistance, offering a highly sensitive, real-time technique that surpasses traditional methods in detecting and understanding the role of free radicals in bacterial death and survival mechanisms.