Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy for investigating bacterial macromolecular complexes

Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy techniques developed over the past two decades have pushed the resolution limit for fluorescently labeled molecules into the nanometer range. These techniques have the potential to study bacterial macromolecular complexes such as secretion systems with single-molecule resolution on a millisecond time scale. Here we review recent applications of super-resolution fluorescence microscopy in molecular bacteriology with a focus on bacterial secretion systems. We also describe MINFLUX fluorescence nanoscopy, a relatively new technique that promises to one day produce molecular movies of bacterial molecular machines in action.