Rapid Flow Cytometry Detection of a Single Viable Escherichia coli O157:H7 Cell in Raw Spinach Using a Simplified Sample Preparation Technique.

Very low cell count detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in foods is critical, since an infective dose for this pathogen may be only 10 cells, and fewer still for vulnerable populations. A flow cytometer is able to detect and count individual cells of a target bacterium, in this case E. coli O157:H7. The challenge is to find the single cell in a complex matrix like raw spinach. To find that cell requires growing it as quickly as possible to a number sufficiently in excess of matrix background that identification is certain. The experimental design for this work was that of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) In-House Level 3 validation executed in the technology's originating laboratory. Using non-selective enrichment broth, 6.5 h incubation at 42°C, centrifugation for target cell concentration, and a highly selective E. coli O157 fluorescent antibody tag, the cytometry method proved more sensitive than a reference regulatory method (p = 0.01) for detecting a single target cell, one E. coli O157:H7 cell, in 25 g of spinach. It counted that cell's daughters with at least 38× signal-to-noise ratio, analyzing 25 samples in total-time-to-results of 9 h.

Flow-Cytometry-Based Method to Detect Escherichia coli and Shigella Spp. Using 16S rRNA-Based Probe.

Detection of microbial contamination in foods before they go on to the market can help prevent the occurrence of foodborne illness outbreaks. Current methods for the detection of Escherichia coli are limited by time-consuming procedures, which include multiple culture incubation steps, and require several days to get results. This unit describes the development of an improved rapid flow-cytometry-based detection method that has greater sensitivity and specificity. This method requires less time-to-results (TTR) and can detect a small number of E. coli in the presence of large numbers of other bacteria. Clear step-by-step protocols for cell concentration determination, sample preparation, and flow cytometric analysis are provided. © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Development of a Flow Cytometry-Based Method for Rapid Detection of Escherichia coli and Shigella Spp. Using an Oligonucleotide Probe.

Standard methods to detect Escherichia coli contamination in food use the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and agar culture plates. These methods require multiple incubation steps and take a long time to results. An improved rapid flow-cytometry based detection method was developed, using a fluorescence-labeled oligonucleotide probe specifically binding a16S rRNA sequence. The method positively detected 51 E. coli isolates as well as 4 Shigella species. All 27 non-E. coli strains tested gave negative results. Comparison of the new genetic assay with a total plate count (TPC) assay and agar plate counting indicated similar sensitivity, agreement between cytometry cell and colony counts. This method can detect a small number of E.coli cells in the presence of large numbers of other bacteria. This method can be used for rapid, economical, and stable detection of E. coli and Shigella contamination in the food industry and other contexts.

Level 2 validation of a flow cytometric method for detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in raw spinach.

The Bacteriological Analytical Manual (BAM) method currently used by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to detect Escherichia coli O157:H7 in spinach was systematically compared to a new flow cytometry based method. This Food and Drug Administration (FDA) level 2 external laboratory validation study was designed to determine the latter method's sensitivity and speed for analysis of this pathogen in raw spinach. Detection of target cell inoculations with a low cell count is critical, since enterohemorrhagic strains of E. coli require an infective dose of as few as 10 cells (Schmid-Hempel and Frank, 2007). Although, according to the FDA, the infectious dose is unknown (Food and Drug Administration, 1993). Therefore, the inoculation level into the spinach, a total of 2.0±2.6 viable E. coli O157 cells, was specified to yield between 25% and 75% detection by the new method, out of 20 samples (10 positives and 10 negatives). This criterion was met in that the new method detected 60% of the nominally positive samples; the corresponding sensitivity of the reference method was 50%. For both methods the most likely explanation for false negatives was that no viable cells were actually introduced into the sample. In this validation study, the flow cytometry method was equal to the BAM in sensitivity and far superior in speed.

An integrated flow cytometry-based system for real-time, high sensitivity bacterial detection and identification.

Foodborne illnesses occur in both industrialized and developing countries, and may be increasing due to rapidly evolving food production practices. Yet some primary tools used to assess food safety are decades, if not centuries, old. To improve the time to result for food safety assessment a sensitive flow cytometer based system to detect microbial contamination was developed. By eliminating background fluorescence and improving signal to noise the assays accurately measure bacterial load or specifically identify pathogens. These assays provide results in minutes or, if sensitivity to one cell in a complex matrix is required, after several hours enrichment. Conventional assessments of food safety require 48 to 56 hours. The assays described within are linear over 5 orders of magnitude with results identical to culture plates, and report live and dead microorganisms. This system offers a powerful approach to real-time assessment of food safety, useful for industry self-monitoring and regulatory inspection.

Photobleaching with phloxine B sensitizer to reduce food matrix interference for detection of Escherichia coli serotype O157:H7 in fresh spinach by flow cytometry.

A flow cytometric method (RAPID-B™) with detection sensitivity of one viable cell of Escherichia coli serotype O157:H7 in fresh spinach (Spinacia oleracea) was developed and evaluated. The major impediment to achieving this performance was mistaking autofluorescing spinach particles for tagged target cells. Following a 5 h non-selective enrichment, artificially inoculated samples were photobleached, using phloxine B as a photosensitizer. Samples were centrifuged at high speed to concentrate target cells, then gradient centrifuged to separate them from matrix debris. In external laboratory experiments, RAPID-B and the reference method both correctly detected E. coli O157:H7 at inoculations of ca. 15 cells. In a follow-up study, after 4 cell inoculations of positives and 6 h enrichment, RAPID-B correctly identified 92% of 25 samples. The RAPID-B method limit of detection (LOD) was one cell in 25 g. It proved superior to the reference method (which incorporated real time-PCR, selective enrichment, and culture plating elements) in accuracy and speed.

Biotransformation of quinazoline and phthalazine by Aspergillus niger.

Cultures of Aspergillus niger NRRL-599 in fluid Sabouraud medium were grown with quinazoline and phthalazine for 7 days. Metabolites were purified by high-performance liquid chromatography and identified by mass spectrometry and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Quinazoline was oxidized to 4-quinazolinone and 2,4-quinazolinedione, and phthalazine was oxidized to 1-phthalazinone.

Isolation of bacterial strains from bovine fecal microflora capable of degradation of ceftiofur.

Ceftiofur, a third-generation cephalosporin used to treat bacterial infections in animals, is degraded in bovine feces but the specific bacteria involved are unknown. To find the bacteria involved in ceftiofur metabolism, the bovine fecal microflora was screened. Twenty-one nonidentical strains of bovine fecal bacteria were isolated on media containing 1-32 microg ml(-1) of ceftiofur. The cultures were incubated with 5 microg ml(-1) ceftiofur for different times, then centrifuged and analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography. Three strains of Bacillus spp., two strains of Roseomonas spp., and one strain of Azospirillum sp. metabolized 5 microg ml(-1) ceftiofur in broth cultures in less than 24h; ten other strains of Roseomonas and one strain of Bacillus pumilus had metabolized it by 120 h. After the ceftiofur had been metabolized by these bacteria, the filter-sterilized supernatants of centrifuged cultures no longer inhibited the growth of a ceftiofur-sensitive strain of Kocuria rhizophila, which indicated that ceftiofur had been transformed to compounds without bactericidal activity. Each isolate was also found to be able to grow in the presence of other beta-lactams, and a nitrocefin assay showed beta-lactamase activity in the 17 strains that metabolized ceftiofur. The results show that some beta-lactamase-producing bacteria from the bovine fecal microflora are capable of transforming ceftiofur to metabolites lacking bactericidal activity.

Biotransformation of acridine by Mycobacterium vanbaalenii.

Cultures of Mycobacterium vanbaalenii strain PYR-1 in a liquid medium were exposed to the toxic environmental contaminant acridine (260 microM). After incubation for 7 d, the cultures were extracted with ethyl acetate. Metabolites were purified using high-performance liquid chromatography and analyzed by mass spectrometry and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Four metabolites, 9,10-dihydroacridine, 4-hydroxyacridine, acridine cis-1 ,2-dihydrodiol, and acridin-9(10H)-one, were identified.

Acetylation and nitrosation of ciprofloxacin by environmental strains of mycobacteria.

To determine the ability of environmental bacteria to metabolize the frequently prescribed fluoroquinolone drug ciprofloxacin, eight Mycobacterium spp. cultures were grown for 4 days in a medium containing sorbitol and yeast extract with 100 mg x L(-1) ciprofloxacin. After the cultures had been centrifuged and the supernatants extracted with ethyl acetate, two metabolites were purified by using high-performance liquid chromatography. They were identified with liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Ciprofloxacin was transformed to both N-acetylciprofloxacin (2.5%-5.5% of the total peak area at 280 nm) and N-nitrosociprofloxacin (6.0%-8.0% of the peak area) by Mycobacterium gilvum PYR-GCK and Mycobacterium sp. PYR100 but it was transformed only to N-acetylciprofloxacin by Mycobacterium frederiksbergense FAn9, M. gilvum ATCC 43909, M. gilvum BB1, Mycobacterium smegmatis mc2155, Mycobacterium sp. 7E1B1W, and Mycobacterium sp. RJGII-135. The results suggest that biotransformation may serve as a ciprofloxacin resistance mechanism for these bacteria.

Biotransformation of flumequine by the fungus Cunninghamella elegans.

The metabolism of the antibacterial fluoroquinolone drug flumequine by Cunninghamella elegans was investigated using cultures grown in Sabouraud dextrose broth with 308microM flumequine. The cultures were extracted with ethyl acetate; metabolites were separated by high-performance liquid chromatography and identified by mass spectrometry and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Flumequine was transformed to two diastereomers of 7-hydroxyflumequine (23 and 43% of the total chromatographic peak area at 280nm) and 7-oxoflumequine (11% of the total peak area). This is the first time that the two 7-hydroxy diastereomers have been characterized structurally; the hydroxyflumequines are known to have less antimicrobial activity than flumequine.

Transformation of the antibacterial agent norfloxacin by environmental mycobacteria.

Because fluoroquinolone antimicrobial agents may be released into the environment, the potential for environmental bacteria to biotransform these drugs was investigated. Eight Mycobacterium sp. cultures in a sorbitol-yeast extract medium were dosed with 100 microg ml(-1) of norfloxacin and incubated for 7 days. The MICs of norfloxacin for these strains, tested by an agar dilution method, were 1.6 to 25 microg ml(-1). Cultures were extracted with ethyl acetate, and potential metabolites in the extracts were purified by high-performance liquid chromatography. The metabolites were identified using mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. N-Acetylnorfloxacin (5 to 50% of the total absorbance at 280 nm) was produced by the eight Mycobacterium strains. N-Nitrosonorfloxacin (5 to 30% of the total absorbance) was also produced by Mycobacterium sp. strain PYR100 and Mycobacterium gilvum PYR-GCK. The MICs of N-nitrosonorfloxacin and N-acetylnorfloxacin were 2- to 38- and 4- to 1,000-fold higher, respectively, than those of norfloxacin for several different bacteria, including the two strains that produced both metabolites. Although N-nitrosonorfloxacin had less antibacterial activity, nitrosamines are potentially carcinogenic. The biotransformation of fluoroquinolones by mycobacteria may serve as a resistance mechanism.

Transformation of cinoxacin by Beauveria bassiana.

The ability of the fungus Beauveria bassiana ATCC 7159 to transform the antibacterial agent cinoxacin was investigated. Cultures in sucrose-peptone broth were dosed with cinoxacin, grown for 20 days, and then extracted with ethyl acetate. Two metabolites were detected and purified by high-performance liquid chromatography. The major metabolite was identified by mass and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectra as 1-ethyl-1,4-dihydro-3-(hydroxymethyl)[1,3]dioxolo[4,5-g]cinnolin-4-one and the minor metabolite was identified as 1-ethyl-1,4-dihydro-6,7-dihydroxy-3-(hydroxymethyl)cinnolin-4-one. B. bassiana also reduced quinoline-3-carboxylic acid to 3-(hydroxymethyl)quinoline.

Formation of conjugates from ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin in cultures of Trichoderma viride.

The formation of conjugates from two antibacterial fluoroquinolone drugs, ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin, was observed in cultures of Trichoderma viride that had been grown in sucrose-peptone broth and extracted 16 d after dosing with the drugs. Both conjugates were purified by high-performance liquid chromatography and found to be optically active. They were identified by mass and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectra as 4-hydroxy-3-oxo-4-vinylcyclopent-1-enyl ciprofloxacin and 4-hydroxy-3-oxo-4-vinylcyclopent-1-enyl norfloxacin. The transformation of veterinary fluoroquinolones in the presence of fungi may have ecological significance.

Conversion of Ferulic Acid to 4-Vinylguaiacol by Yeasts Isolated from Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice.

Yeasts were isolated from frozen concentrated orange juice, grown in Sabouraud dextrose broth at 25°C, and tested for the ability to cometabolize ferulic acid. Strains of Rhodotorula sp., Candida lambica , Trichosporon pullulans , and Candida intermedia decarboxylated ferulic acid nonoxidatively to an off-flavor compound, 4-vinylguaiacol. By decarboxylating naturally occurring ferulic acid, these and other yeasts have the potential to contribute to off flavors in improperly stored fruit juices.