Detection and Identification of Bacteria Using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy
Abstract
In this study, an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) was used for the inorganic chemical characterization of biological materials. ICP-MS has the advantage of subnanogram/ gram detection limits for most elements making it a sensitive tool for the detection and characterization of aerosolized biological material. Microgram-sized samples of Bacillus subtilis spores (BG), Bacillus subtilis vegetative cells (Bg) and Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) were analyzed and exhibit significant differences in selected elemental ratios (i.e.: Pb/Ba, Mg/Ba, Mn/Ba, P/Ba, Cu/Ba, Sr/Ba, Zn/Ba, V/Ba, and Co/Ba). These results demonstrate a unique signature reflecting the processing history of each organism.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA483076
Entities
People
- Ammon Birenzvige
- Carolyne M. Gikunju
- David M. Schaefer
- Steven Lev