ToF-SIMS data analysis of Paenibacillus sp. 300A and Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 biofilms

Analysis of bacterial biofilms is particularly challenging and important with diverse applications from systems biology to biotechnology.  Among the variety of techniques that have been applied, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) has many promising features in studying the surface characteristics of biofilms. ToF-SIMS offers high spatial resolution and high mass accuracy, which permit surface sensitive analysis of biofilm components. Thus, ToF-SIMS provides a powerful solution to addressing the challenge of bacterial biofilm analysis. This dataset covers ToF-SIMS analysis of Paenibacillus sp. 300A isolated from the Hanford site in Richland, WA and Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 isolated from freshwater lake sediment in New York state. The strains are known to have metal and sulfur reducing properties and can be used for bioremediation, wastewater treatment, and bioengineering and technology development. There is a current need to identify small molecules and fragments produced from bacterial biofilms. Static ToF-SIMS spectra of MR-1 were obtained using an IONTOF TOF.SIMS V instrument equipped with a 25 keV Bi3+ metal ion gun. Identified molecules and molecular fragments are compared against known biological databases and the reported peaks have at least 65 ppm mass accuracy. These molecules range from lipids and fatty acids to flavonoids, quinolones, and other naturally occurring organic compounds. It is anticipated that the spectral identification of key peaks will assist detection of metabolites, extracellular polymeric substance molecules like polysaccharides, and biologically relevant small molecules using ToF-SIMS in future surface and interface research of bacterial biofilms.