Ratiometric measurement and identification of single diffusing molecules

The concept of ratiometric identification and separation of sub-populations of single biomolecules which are labeled with individual fluorophores and are freely diffusing (or flowing) through the laser excitation volume is introduced. The efficacy of the scheme versus the signal and noise level is considered and a general theoretical framework and data analysis schemes are introduced. Experimental results that demonstrate distributions of single molecule fluorescence polarization anisotropy (smFPA) and single pair fluorescence resonance energy transfer (spFRET) in solution are presented. Ultimate resolution for identifying molecular observables such as conformational states, degree of freedom of motion and spectral distribution are discussed. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.