Emerging X-ray free-electron lasers with femtosecond pulse duration enable single-shot snapshot imaging almost free from sample damage by outrunning major radiation damage processes. In bioimaging, it is essential to keep the sample close to its natural state. Conventional high-resolution imaging, however, suffers from severe radiation damage that hinders live cell imaging. Here we present a method for capturing snapshots of live cells kept in a micro-liquid enclosure array by X-ray laser diffraction. We place living Microbacterium lacticum cells in an enclosure array and successively expose each enclosure to a single X-ray laser pulse from the SPring-8 Angstrom Compact Free-Electron Laser. The enclosure itself works as a guard slit and allows us to record a coherent diffraction pattern from a weakly-scattering submicrometre-sized cell with a clear fringe extending up to a 28-nm full-period resolution. The reconstructed image reveals living whole-cell structures without any staining, which helps advance understanding of intracellular phenomena.
Actinobacteria Animals