IDENTIFICATION OF BACTERIA BY COMPUTER-ASSISTED FATTY ACID PROFILING

Plant pathogenic and other plant associated bacteria obtained from the NCPPB were determined by computer-assisted fatty acid profiling.
Bacteria were grown for 24 hours under defined cultural conditions.
Cellular lipids were saponified, and the fatty acids were methylated, extracted and purified by a simple single tube method.
The resulting fatty acid methyl esters were separated, identified and quantified by computer controlled automated gas chromatography using a software library of known fatty acid methyl esters.
Profiles obtained for each of the 415 strains tested were compared with a commercially available software library of profiles of a wide range of bacteria which included all taxa tested.
Accuracy of determination was approximately 98% at specific level, 72% at subspecific level but generally less than 50% at infra subspecific level, e.g. for pathovar determination.
Profiles were slightly altered by changes in cultural conditions but this did not usually alter the determination.
Computer-assisted fatty acid profiling offers a cheap, rapid and accurate method for determination of bacteria.

Bacterial and Bacteria-like Contaminants of Plant Tissue Cultures

D.E. Stead

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1988.225.3