Rapid identification of staphylococci by Raman spectroscopy

Sci Rep. 2017 Nov 1;7(1):14846. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-13940-w.

Abstract

Clinical treatment of the infections caused by various staphylococcal species differ depending on the actual cause of infection. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a fast and reliable method for identification of staphylococci. Raman spectroscopy is an optical method used in multiple scientific fields. Recent studies showed that the method has a potential for use in microbiological research, too. Our work here shows a possibility to identify staphylococci by Raman spectroscopy. We present a method that enables almost 100% successful identification of 16 of the clinically most important staphylococcal species directly from bacterial colonies grown on a Mueller-Hinton agar plate. We obtained characteristic Raman spectra of 277 staphylococcal strains belonging to 16 species from a 24-hour culture of each strain grown on the Mueller-Hinton agar plate using the Raman instrument. The results show that it is possible to distinguish among the tested species using Raman spectroscopy and therefore it has a great potential for use in routine clinical diagnostics.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Agar
  • Diagnostic Tests, Routine
  • Fluorescence
  • Principal Component Analysis
  • Specimen Handling
  • Spectrum Analysis, Raman / methods*
  • Staphylococcus / isolation & purification*
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Agar