Rapid identification of pathogenic bacteria by capillary electrophoretic analysis of rRNA genes

Gene analysis of multiple oral bacteria by the polymerase chain reaction coupled with capillary polymer electrophoresis

Capillary polymer electrophoresis is identified as a promising technology for the analysis of DNA from bacteria, virus and cell samples. In this paper, we propose an innovative capillary polymer electrophoresis protocol for the quantification of polymerase chain reaction products. The internal standard method was modified and applied to capillary polymer electrophoresis. The precision of our modified internal standard protocol was evaluated by measuring the relative standard deviation of intermediate capillary polymer electrophoresis experiments. Results showed that the relative standard deviation was reduced from 12.4-15.1 to 0.6-2.3%. Linear regression tests were also implemented to validate our protocol. The modified internal standard method showed good linearity and robust properties. Finally, the ease of our method was illustrated by analyzing a real clinical oral sample using a one-run capillary polymer electrophoresis experiment.

Species differentiation of seafood spoilage and pathogenic gram-negative bacteria by MALDI-TOF mass fingerprinting

Species differentiation is important for the early detection and identification of pathogenic and food-spoilage microorganisms that may be present in fish and seafood products. The main 26 species of seafood spoilage and pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria, including Aeromonas hydrophila, Acinetobacter baumanii, Pseudomonas spp., and Enterobacter spp. among others, were characterized by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) of low molecular weight proteins extracted from intact bacterial cells by a fast procedure. From the acquired spectra, a library of specific mass spectral fingerprints was constructed. To analyze spectral fingerprints, peaks in the mass range of 2000-10 000 Da were considered and representative mass lists of 10-35 peak masses were compiled. At least one unique biomarker peak was observed for each species, and various genus-specific peaks were detected for genera Proteus, Providencia, Pseudomonas, Serratia, Shewanella, and Vibrio. Phyloproteomic relationships based on these data were compared to phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene, and a similar clustering was found. The method was also successfully applied for the identification of three bacterial strains isolated from seafood by comparing the spectral fingerprints with the created library of reference fingerprints. Thus, the proteomic approach demonstrated to be a competent tool for species identification.

A novel pathogen detection system based on high-resolution CE-SSCP using a triblock copolymer matrix

Although CE-SSCP analysis combined with 16S ribosomal RNA gene-specific PCR has enormous potential as a simple and versatile pathogen detection technique, low resolution of CE-SSCP causes the limited application. Among the experimental conditions affecting the resolution, the polymer matrix is considered to be most critical to improve the resolution of CE-SSCP analysis. However, due to the peak broadening caused by the interaction between hydrophobic moiety of polymer matrices and DNA, conventional polymer matrices are not ideal for CE-SSCP analysis. A poly(ethyleneoxide)-poly(propyleneoxide)-poly(ethyleneoxide) (PEO-PPO-PEO) triblock copolymer, with dynamic coating ability and a propensity to form micelles to minimize exposure of hydrophobic PPO block to DNA, can be an alternative matrix. In this study, we examined the resolution of CE-SSCP analysis using the PEO-PPO-PEO triblock copolymer as the polymer matrix and four same-sized DNA fragments of similar sequence content. Among 48 commercially available PEO-PPO-PEO triblock copolymers, three were selected due to their transparency in the operable range of viscosity and PEO(137)PPO(43)PEO(137) exhibited the most effective separation. Significant improvement in resolution allowed discrimination of the similar sequences, thus greatly facilitated CE-SSCP analysis compared to the conventional polymer matrix. The results indicate that PEO-PPO-PEO triblock copolymer may serve as an ideal matrix for high-resolution CE-SSCP analysis.

Assessment of CE for the identification of microorganisms

The assessment of capillary electrophoresis for separation and identification of microorganisms is described in this article. The work brings a comparison of the application of uncoated capillaries modified with poly(ethylene oxide) and coated capillaries for the separation of model microorganisms Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Escherichia coli with Tris-borate-EDTA and Tris-citrate-fructose as electrolytes. The best separation was achieved in the coated capillary using 1 mM Tris-citrate-fructose buffer, pH 6.9. A simple identification based on the migration time and UV spectrum was found unsatisfactory and thus a method based on a post-separation cultivation and sequential analysis was developed. Off-line combination with mass spectrometric analysis with the use of desorption electrospray was shown to be an interesting alternative in a study of microorganisms. Mass spectra allowed distinguishing among analyzed cells.