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Application of Routine Diagnostic Procedure, VITEK 2 Compact, MALDI-TOF MS, and PCR Assays in Identification Procedure of Bacterial Strain with Ambiguous Phenotype

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Abstract

In diagnostic microbiology as well as in microbiological research, the identification of a microorganism is a crucial and decisive stage. A broad choice of methods is available, based on both phenotypic and molecular properties of microbes. The aim of this study was to compare the application of phenotypic and molecular tools in bacterial identification on the example of Gram-negative intestine rod with an ambiguous phenotype. Different methods of identification procedure, which based on various properties of bacteria, were applied, e.g., microscopic observation of single-bacterial cells, macroscopic observation of bacterial colonies morphology, the automated system of microorganism identification (biochemical tests), the mass spectrometry method (analysis of bacterial proteome), and genetic analysis with PCR reactions. The obtained results revealed discrepancies in the identification of the tested bacterial strain with an atypical phenotype: mucous morphology of colonies, not characteristic for either E. coli and Citrobacter spp., mass spectrometry analysis of proteome initially assigned the tested strain to Citrobacter genus (C. freundii) and biochemical profiles pointed to Escherichia coli. A decisive method in the current study was genetic analysis with PCR reactions which identified conserved genetic sequences highly specific to E. coli species in the genome of the tested strain.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Professor Andrzej Gamian (Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wroclaw, Poland) for the bacterial strains from the Polish Collection of Microorganisms; the director of the ZOO Wrocław, Radosław Ratajszczak; and employees of the Zoological Garden in Wrocław for their help in providing the biological samples and for the permission to use them in bacteriological research.

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The funding source(s) had no such involvement in presented research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, Institute of Genetics and Microbiology, University of Wrocław, Przybyszewskiego 63/77, 51-148, Wrocław, Poland

    Marta Książczyk, Bartłomiej Dudek, Kamila Korzekwa, Emil Paluch & Gabriela Bugla-Płoskońska

  2. Department of Epizootiology and Clinic of Bird and Exotic Animals, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Pl. Grunwaldzki 45, 50-366, Wrocław, Poland

    Maciej Kuczkowski & Alina Wieliczko

  3. Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Rudolfa Weigla 12, 53-114, Wrocław, Poland

    Anna Tobiasz & Agnieszka Korzeniowska-Kowal

  4. Department Physicochemistry of Microorganisms, Institute of Genetics and Microbiology, University of Wrocław, Przybyszewskiego 63/77, 51-148, Wrocław, Poland

    Emil Paluch

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  1. Marta Książczyk
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  2. Maciej Kuczkowski
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Correspondence to Marta Książczyk.

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Książczyk, M., Kuczkowski, M., Dudek, B. et al. Application of Routine Diagnostic Procedure, VITEK 2 Compact, MALDI-TOF MS, and PCR Assays in Identification Procedure of Bacterial Strain with Ambiguous Phenotype. Curr Microbiol 72, 570–582 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-016-0993-0

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