Muchaamba Francis, Stephan Roger
Institute for Food Safety and Hygiene, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 272, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
Methods Protoc. 2024 Jun 11;7(3):48. doi: 10.3390/mps7030048.
Timely and accurate detection and characterization of microbial threats is crucial for effective infection and outbreak management. Additionally, in food production, rapid microbe identification is indispensable for maintaining quality control and hygiene standards. Current methods for typing microbial strains often rely on labor-intensive, time-consuming, and expensive DNA- and sera-serotyping techniques, limiting their applicability in rapid-response scenarios. In this context, the IR Biotyper, utilizing Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, offers a novel approach, providing specific spectra for fast strain typing within 3 h. This methodology article serves as a comprehensive resource for researchers and technicians aiming to utilize FTIR spectroscopy for microbial strain typing. It encompasses detailed guidelines on sample preparation, data acquisition, and analysis techniques, ensuring the generation of reliable and reproducible results. We highlight the IR Biotyper's rapid and accurate discrimination capabilities, showcasing its potential for real-time pathogen monitoring and source-tracking to enhance public health and food safety. We propose its integration as an early screening method, followed by more detailed analysis with whole-genome sequencing, to optimize detection accuracy and response efficiency in microbial surveillance systems.
及时、准确地检测和鉴定微生物威胁对于有效的感染和疫情管理至关重要。此外，在食品生产中，快速鉴定微生物对于维持质量控制和卫生标准不可或缺。当前对微生物菌株进行分型的方法通常依赖于劳动强度大、耗时且昂贵的DNA和血清分型技术，限制了它们在快速响应场景中的适用性。在此背景下，利用傅里叶变换红外（FTIR）光谱技术的红外生物分型仪提供了一种新方法，能在3小时内为快速菌株分型提供特定光谱。这篇方法学文章为旨在利用FTIR光谱技术进行微生物菌株分型的研究人员和技术人员提供了全面的资源。它涵盖了关于样品制备、数据采集和分析技术的详细指南，确保产生可靠且可重复的结果。我们强调了红外生物分型仪快速、准确的鉴别能力，展示了其在实时病原体监测和溯源方面的潜力，以加强公共卫生和食品安全。我们建议将其作为一种早期筛查方法，随后结合全基因组测序进行更详细的分析，以优化微生物监测系统中的检测准确性和响应效率。
