Identification of Contaminated Cells with Viruses, Bacteria, or Fungi by Fourier Transform Infrared Microspectroscopy

Abstract

Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy (FTIR-M) can detect small molecular changes in cells and therefore was previously applied for the identification of different biological samples. In the present study, FTIR spectroscopy was used for the identification and discrimination of Vero cells infected with herpes viruses or contaminated with bacteria or fungi in cell culture. Vero cells in culture were infected herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) or contaminated withE. colibacteria orCandida albicansfungi and analyzed by FTIR microscopy at 24 h postinfection/contamination. Specific different spectral changes were observed according to the infecting or contaminating agent. For instance, both pure fungi and cell culture contaminated with this fungi showed specific peaks at 1030 cm−1and at 1373 cm−1regions, while pureE. coliand cell culture contaminated with this bacteria showed a specific and unique peak at 1657 cm−1. These results support the potential of developing FTIR microspectroscopy as a simple, reagent free method for identification and discrimination between different tissue infection or contamination with various pathogens.

Optimal variable selection for Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic analysis of starch-adulterated garlic powder

“…Actual examples include the detection of melamine adulteration in dairy milk [8], the detection of adulterated instant coffees [9], the adulteration of chocolate and chocolate products [10], the authentication of extra virgin olive [11], and the detection of microbial spoilage in meat [12]. FT-IR has also been applied for the rapid screening of minor components, fungi, and viruses in various materials [13,14]. Finally, FT-IR has become a widely adopted technique in quality and process control applications in the food as well as pharmaceutical and related industries.…”

Vibrational spectroscopic analysis of blood for diagnosis of infections and sepsis: a review of requirements for a rapid diagnostic test

“…A comparison of the analytical steps required for the current gold-standard technique of blood culture, the above emerging assay techniques, and the proposed vibrational spectroscopic techniques is presented in Table 4. Although Table 4 shows the case for bacteria only, all techniques are applicable to other pathogens including viruses, yeast, and fungi [63][64][65] . It should be noted that drying of the sample is required for IR spectroscopy 66 but is not necessary in Raman spectroscopy.…”

“…Characteristic absorptions of the cellular proteins of the bacteria However, this use of Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy for whole-cell bacterial samples is confounded by the effect on the acquired spectra of the culture conditions (medium, temperature and time) 70 . Additionally, FTIR has shown utility in distinguishing between bacteria, fungus and viruses microorganisms 64,79 .…”

Microspectroscopic investigation of the membrane clogging during the sterile filtration of the growth media for mammalian cell culture

“…The further evidence was provided by the subsequent sample tracking, which revealed that this batch of fouling media had undergone longer-than-normal time storage. The differentiation between bacteria and fungi was also made possible by the detailed spectral comparison: the IR spectrum of the particles isolated from the fouling media matches excellently with a bacterial IR spectrum [17], but not with fungi spectra [20,21]. For fungi spectra [20,21], the band around 1060 cm −1 is much stronger and broader than that of bacteria [17], and even stronger than amide I band [21], which was not the case in the spectrum of bacteria due to their distinct structural differences.…”