Thesis-PDF - IAP/TU Wien

Chapter 7
Outlook
The Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) has proven to be a valuable tool for investigation
of biomaterials at the small scale. In this work the single celled alga Euglena
gracilis was investigated in the light of being a bionanotechnological system accommodating
a wealth of functional units within only small volume. A method
for AFM data acquisition of the alga Euglena gracilis was developed and further
investigation can build upon this approach.
As this work is only a beginning of the AFM study of this alga, it focused on its
morphology, on how to obtain first image data of Euglena’s pellicle and some of its
functional cell organelles with potential for technical applications. This undertaking
can be seen as an ignition part in the investigation of algal materials exhibiting
molecular precision achitecture and complexity inherent to living systems.
While the data obtained on whole cells as well as cell organelles provided
essentially morphological data and proved the feasibility of such studies by means
of AFM, other analytical characterization methods, e.g AFM force spectroscopy,
are now possible on these and similar algae by making use of the preparation
method developed herein. Since AFM yields information about the sample as well
as it allows manipulation on the micro and nanoscale, future research attempts
along these lines seem encouraging.
The exact nature of the novel features found, i.e. the indentations in the
center of pellicular strips, should be further analyzed, especially with regards to the
sample preparation techniques used. Equally interesting, AFM force spectroscopy
shall characterize the mucus material ejected by mucus excretion pellicle pores.
Further, elucidation about the three-dimensional structure of the photoreceptor
was attempted with this work, however, the fraction of crystalline parts
contained too few photoreceptors to be found with the AFM tip, since crystalloid
bodies, paramylon grains and not completely removed cell material amounted for a
large portion of the fraction. Possible future approaches comprise the development
of a preparation technique for a solution containing a plentitude of photoreceptors.
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