Production of Bacillus Spores as a Simulant for Biological Warfare Agents
Abstract
Standards for proliferation of biological warfare (BW) agent simulants for use in development of detection and identification equipment are essential. Lack of standardized protocols for growth, processing, and product characterization will likely lead to variances in growth parameters and could induce changes in simulant characteristics that may affect instruments being developed. Thirteen media purported were evaluated to grow spores against several criteria, including growth time, ease of processing, reproducibility, and component definition. The goal is to have a chemically defined medium that will produce whole bacillus spores in the least amount of time. Three media (two liquids and one solid) were selected and tested further. Although the solid medium produced the best results, it is more advantageous to use a liquid medium. There is a liquid medium that is chemically defined that produced refractile bodies in twelve hours. Ingredient variations were tested to determine impact on sporulation levels. The spores are virtually free of all media components and debris. Particle sizing of the spores proliferated on all three of the media indicate that they are suitable for use in BW agent detector development.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA426293
Entities
People
- Diane C. St. Amant
- Laurie F. Carey
- Mark A. Guelta
Organizations
- Edgewood Chemical Biological Center