Sheridan G E, Masters C I, Shallcross J A, MacKey B M
Institute of Food Research, Reading, United Kingdom.
Appl Environ Microbiol. 1998 Apr;64(4):1313-8. doi: 10.1128/AEM.64.4.1313-1318.1998.
The relationship between the detection of mRNA and cellular viability in Escherichia coli was investigated in cells killed by heat or ethanol. Reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) methods were developed for detecting mRNA from rpoH, groEL, and tufA genes. mRNA from all three genes was detected immediately after the cells had been killed by heat or ethanol but gradually disappeared with time when dead cells were held at room temperature. In heat-killed cells, some mRNA targets became undetectable after 2 to 16 h, whereas after ethanol treatment, mRNA was still detected after 16 h. In contrast, 16S rRNA was detected by RT-PCR in all samples containing dead cells and did not disappear during a subsequent incubation of 16 h at room temperature. Of the different types of nucleic acid, mRNA is the most promising candidate for an indicator of viability in bacteria, but its persistence in dead cells depends on the inactivating treatment and subsequent holding conditions.
研究了热或乙醇处理致死的大肠杆菌中mRNA检测与细胞活力之间的关系。开发了逆转录聚合酶链反应(RT-PCR)方法来检测来自rpoH、groEL和tufA基因的mRNA。在细胞被热或乙醇杀死后,立即检测到来自所有三个基因的mRNA,但当死细胞在室温下放置时,mRNA会随着时间逐渐消失。在热致死细胞中,一些mRNA靶点在2至16小时后无法检测到,而乙醇处理后,16小时后仍能检测到mRNA。相比之下,在所有含有死细胞的样品中,通过RT-PCR都能检测到16S rRNA,并且在随后室温下16小时的孵育过程中不会消失。在不同类型的核酸中,mRNA是细菌活力指标最有前景的候选者,但其在死细胞中的持久性取决于灭活处理和随后的保存条件。