ORCID

Abstract

Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy is an established rapid whole-organism fingerprinting method that generates metabolic fingerprints from bacteria that reflect the phenotype of the microorganism under investigation. However, whilst FT-IR spectroscopy is fast (typically 10 s to 1 min per sample), the approaches for microbial sample preparation can be time consuming as plate culture or shake flasks are used for growth of the organism. We report a new approach that allows micro-cultivation of bacteria from low volumes (typically 200 μL) to be coupled with FT-IR spectroscopy. This approach is fast and easy to perform and gives equivalent data to the lengthier and more expensive shake flask cultivations (sample volume = 20 mL). With this micro-culture approach we also demonstrate high reproducibility of the metabolic fingerprints. The approach allowed separation of different isolates of Escherichia coli involved in urinary tract infection, including members of the globally disseminated ST131 clone, with respect to both genotype and resistance or otherwise to the antibiotic Ciprofloxacin.

DOI

10.1039/c3an36517d

Publication Date

2013-03-07

Publication Title

Analyst

Volume

138

Issue

5

First Page

1363

Last Page

1369

Organisational Unit

School of Biomedical Sciences

Keywords

Bacterial Typing Techniques, Escherichia coli, Escherichia coli Infections, High-Throughput Screening Assays, Humans, Reproducibility of Results, Sample Size, Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared, Time Factors

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