High Resolution 1H NMR Spectroscopy of Metabolically Active Microorganisms Using Non-Destructive Magic Angle Spinning

It is shown that the resolution of the 1H NMR metabolite spectra of densely packed microbial cells or biofilms attached to solid surfaces can be significantly enhanced with the so-called PASS R.F pulse sequence combined with slow (40-100 Hz) magic angle spinning of the sample. Hence this technique can be used to study biofilm metabolism under environmentally relevant conditions in a minimally invasive way.