Department of Life Sciences, University of Limerick, Castletroy, Co. Limerick, Ireland.
J Appl Microbiol. 2010 Jan;108(1):1-16. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.2009.04370.x.
Flow cytometry (FCM) is a rapid method allowing the acquisition of multiparametric data from thousands of individual cells within a sample. As well as measuring the intrinsic light scattering properties of cells, a plethora of fluorescent dyes may be employed to yield information on macromolecule content, surface antigens present or physiological status. Despite FCM's indispensability within other fields e.g. immunology, it is underutilized within microbiological research. In this review, a strong case is presented for the potential of FCM in the study of Gram-positive spore-former, Bacillus cereus. Previous reports where FCM was successfully used in the study of B. cereus are reviewed along with relevant studies involving other members of the genus. Under headings reflecting common research themes associated with B. cereus, specific instances where FCM has generated novel data, providing a unique insight into the organism, are discussed. Further applications are posited, based on the authors' own research with FCM and B. cereus and work extant in the broader field of microbial cytometry. The authors conclude that, while the expense of equipment and reagents is an undeniable disadvantage, FCM is a technique capable of generating significantly novel data and allows the design and execution of experiments that are not possible with any other technique.
流式细胞术（FCM）是一种快速的方法，允许从样本中的数千个单个细胞中获取多参数数据。除了测量细胞的固有光散射特性外，还可以使用大量荧光染料来提供有关大分子含量、存在的表面抗原或生理状态的信息。尽管 FCM 在免疫学等其他领域不可或缺，但在微生物学研究中并未得到充分利用。在这篇综述中，强烈主张 FCM 在革兰氏阳性孢子形成菌蜡状芽孢杆菌研究中的潜力。回顾了先前成功将 FCM 用于蜡状芽孢杆菌研究的报告，以及涉及该属其他成员的相关研究。根据作者自己使用 FCM 和蜡状芽孢杆菌的研究以及微生物细胞计量学更广泛领域中的现有工作，讨论了在反映与蜡状芽孢杆菌相关的常见研究主题的标题下，FCM 生成新数据的具体实例，为该生物体提供了独特的见解。基于作者自己使用 FCM 和蜡状芽孢杆菌的研究以及微生物细胞计量学更广泛领域中的现有工作，提出了进一步的应用。作者得出结论，尽管设备和试剂的费用是一个不可否认的缺点，但 FCM 是一种能够生成重要新数据的技术，并允许设计和执行其他技术无法完成的实验。
