The atomic force microscope (AFM) is a remarkably simple instrument that can measure forces down to piconewtons and can resolve force changes caused by the displacement of its probe by a fraction of a nanometer. Furthermore, these measurements can be done under water, allowing for the study of biological material under conditions that resemble those in vivo. The AFM functions like aminiature ph...

Cationic AntiMicrobial Peptides (CAMPs) are specific antibiotic agents with strong bactericidal properties and are considered as a one of the alternative ways to treat the resistant forms of bacteria (Rautenbach & Hastings, 1999; Hancock & Patrzykat, 2002; Alves et al., 2010). CAMPs have been isolated from single-cell microorganisms, plants, amphibians, birds, fish, and mammals (Hancock & Diamo...

We collected nearly 70 specimens of Amanita species during a diversity study of Korean mushrooms conducted in 2012. In this study, we primarily investigated 23 Amanita specimens belonging to sections Amanita and Vaginatae. Based on sequence data of the internal transcribed spacers and partial large subunit of ribosomal RNA and morphological characteristics, we identified the following 15 phylog...

Poplar belongs to the family Salicaeceae, order Salicales and group Amentiflorae (Dickmann and Stuart, 1983; Eckenwalder, 1996). There are 35 species of poplar currently recognized in the world; out of those, 6 Populus species are indigenous to India– P. alba, P. ciliata, P. euphratica, P. gamblei, P. glauca and P. laurifolia, and during past many clones of exotic species of poplar (P. deltoide...

Force-distance curve measurements using atomic force microscope (AFM) has been widely used in a broad range of areas. However, currently force-curve measurements are hampered the its low speed of AFM. In this article, a novel inversion-based iterative control technique is proposed to dramatically increase the speed of force-curve measurements. Experimental results are presented to show that by ...

A new method for patterning polymer brushes on conducting surfaces via electro-deposited benzophenone moieties is reported. The dual patterning capability of the technique was demonstrated and characterized via the AFM and for the first time, an IR-imaging technique for a patterned brush.

Structural Biology (SB) techniques are particularly successful in solving virus structures. Taking advantage of the symmetries, a heavy averaging on the data of a large number of specimens, results in an accurate determination of the structure of the sample. However, these techniques do not provide true single molecule information of viruses in physiological conditions. To answer many fundament...

Nanoindentation is a popular experimental technique for characterization of the mechanical properties of soft and biological materials. With its force resolution of tens of pico-Newtons, the atomic force microscope (AFM) is well-suited for performing indentation experiments on soft materials. However, nonlinear contact and adhesion complicate such experiments. This paper critically examines the...