Microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses and fungi, are ubiquitous in nature. Some are extremely beneficial to life on Earth, whereas some cause diseases and disrupt normal human physiology. Pathogenic microorganisms can also undergo mutations and develop resistance to antimicrobial agents, which complicates diagnostic and therapeutic regimens. This calls for continuing efforts to develop new strategies and tools that can provide fast, sensitive and accurate diagnosis, as well as effective treatment of ever-evolving infectious diseases. Aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) have shown promise in imaging, identification and inhibition of various microbial species. Compared to conventional organic fluorophores, AIEgens can offer improved photostability, and have found utilities in imaging microorganisms. AIEgens have been shown to detect microbial viability and differentiate among different microbial strains. Theranostic AIEgens that integrate imaging and killing of microbes have also been developed. This review highlights examples in the literature where AIEgens have been employed as molecular probes in the imaging, discrimination and killing of bacteria, viruses and fungi.

微生物，包括细菌，病毒和真菌，在自然界无处不在。有些对地球上的生命极为有益，而有些则导致疾病并破坏人类的正常生理。病原微生物也可能发生突变并产生对抗菌剂的抗药性，这使诊断和治疗方案变得复杂。这就要求继续努力开发新的策略和工具，以提供快速，灵敏和准确的诊断，以及对不断发展的传染病的有效治疗。聚集诱导的发光致发光剂（AIEgens）已在各种微生物的成像，鉴定和抑制中显示出了希望。与传统的有机荧光团相比，AIEgens可以提供更好的光稳定性，并已发现可用于对微生物进行成像。AIEgens已显示出可检测微生物活力并在不同微生物菌株之间进行区分。还开发了整合了微生物成像和杀伤作用的治疗性AIEgens。这篇综述重点介绍了文献中的例子，其中AIEgens已被用作对细菌，病毒和真菌进行成像，鉴别和杀死的分子探针。