van Tongeren Sandra P, Roest Hendrik I J, Degener John E, Harmsen Hermie J M
Department of Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Department of Bacteriology & TSEs, Central Veterinary Institute (CVI), part of Wageningen UR, Lelystad, The Netherlands.
PLoS One. 2014 Jun 19;9(6):e98871. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0098871. eCollection 2014.
For some microbial species, such as Bacillus anthracis, the etiologic agent of the disease anthrax, correct detection and identification by molecular methods can be problematic. The detection of virulent B. anthracis is challenging due to multiple virulence markers that need to be present in order for B. anthracis to be virulent and its close relationship to Bacillus cereus and other members of the B. cereus group. This is especially the case in environments where build-up of Bacillus spores can occur and several representatives of the B. cereus group may be present, which increases the chance for false-positives. In this study we show the presence of B. anthracis-like bacteria and other members of the B. cereus group in a microbial community within the human environment of the International Space Station and their preliminary identification by using conventional culturing as well as molecular techniques including 16S rDNA sequencing, PCR and real-time PCR. Our study shows that when monitoring the microbial hygiene in a given human environment, health risk assessment is troublesome in the case of virulent B. anthracis, especially if this should be done with rapid, easy to apply and on-site molecular methods.
对于某些微生物物种，如炭疽病的病原体炭疽芽孢杆菌，通过分子方法进行正确的检测和鉴定可能存在问题。由于炭疽芽孢杆菌具有毒性需要多个毒力标记物存在，且它与蜡样芽孢杆菌及蜡样芽孢杆菌群的其他成员关系密切，因此检测有毒力的炭疽芽孢杆菌具有挑战性。在可能出现芽孢杆菌孢子积聚且蜡样芽孢杆菌群的几个代表物种可能存在的环境中尤其如此，这增加了假阳性的几率。在本研究中，我们展示了国际空间站人类环境中的一个微生物群落中存在炭疽芽孢杆菌样细菌及蜡样芽孢杆菌群的其他成员，并通过传统培养以及包括16S rDNA测序、PCR和实时PCR在内的分子技术对它们进行了初步鉴定。我们的研究表明，在监测特定人类环境中的微生物卫生状况时，对于有毒力的炭疽芽孢杆菌进行健康风险评估很麻烦，尤其是如果要用快速、易于应用的现场分子方法来进行评估的话。
