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Endospore surface properties of commonly used Bacillus anthracis surrogates vary in aqueous solution
Citation:
White, C. P., J. Popovici, D. A. Lytle, AND E. W. Rice. Endospore surface properties of commonly used Bacillus anthracis surrogates vary in aqueous solution. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek. Springer International Publishing AG, Cham (ZG), Switzerland, 106(2):243-251, (2014).
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public.
Description:
The hydrophobic character and electrophoretic mobility of microorganisms are vital aspects of understanding their interactions with the environment. These properties are fundamental in fate-and-transport, physiological, and virulence studies, and thus integral in surrogate selection. Herein, the surface properties of commonly used Bacillus anthracis surrogate endospores were tested under comparable conditions with respect to culture, endospore purification, buffer type and strength. Additionally, data is presented of endospores suspended in dechlorinated tap water (DTW) to evaluate the surrogates in regard to a breach of water infrastructure security. The surface properties of B. anthracis were found to be the most hydrophobic and least electronegative among the six Bacillus species tested. The effect of electrophoretic mobility on hydrophobicity varies in a species-specific manner. This study demonstrates that surrogate surface properties differ and care must be taken when choosing the most suitable surrogate for B. anthracis. Moreover, it is shown that B. thuringensis best represents B. anthracis with respect to electrophoretic mobility and hydrophobicity across all test buffers. hydrophobicity, electrophoretic mobility, surface, surrogate
