Manipulation and real-time electrical detection of individual bacterial cells at electrode junctions: A model for assembly of nanoscale biosystems

Biological cells are complex objects that have the potential to act as templates for the subsequent construction of nanoscale structures. We demonstrate the ability to controllably and reversibly manipulate individual, live bacterial cells across micron-sized electrical gaps, and to detect bridging directly through changes in the electrical response. Our model system, Bacillus mycoides, is a rod-shaped bacterium approximately 800 nm wide and 5 mu m long, similar in size and shape to many inorganic nanowires.