Investigations of Microbial Spore Lysis using Near-IR Laser Irradiation.
EMSL Project ID
2120
Abstract
The rapid detection of a microorganism in the environment requires the detection of a specific biochemical marker or markers. In characterizing a particular microbial isolate, it is desirable to generate numerous, abundant and reproducible biochemical markers. This will allow an unambiguous identification of that microbe if isolated from the environment at a later date. One method that is able to rapidly characterize bacteria has been MALDI-TOF-MS. Direct analysis of whole cell preparations has generated biochemical fingerprints of several organisms. This approach has demonstrated the ability to differentiate a number of bacterial species from one another. However, two genera of Eubacteria of interest to the medical and food industries produce endospores that allow them to survive harsh environmental conditions. However, the spores have proven more difficult to generate rich, reproducible biochemical fingerprints from using this technique. We propose the use of a laser pretreatment as an effective means to lyse the spores. The flexibility in power, time and wavelength provide a number of parameters to utilize in trying to induce spore lysis. Furthermore, the ability to carry out this technique on cells in a solid state (preferable for our experimental design) makes laser lysis a potentially powerful tool in the study of these microbial structures. Working with the laser expertise of Kenneth Beck, we propose the investigation of spore lysis using the lasers available in EMSL 1221. The initial investigations will utilize the set wavelength laser emitting at 532 nM with varying times and sample surfaces.
Project Details
Project type
Exploratory Research
Start Date
2001-01-02
End Date
2003-12-09
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator