Microbiology and Flow Cytometry - New Developments
and Applications
Purdue University Cytometry Laboratories in collaboration with Dr.
Ernest Blatchley in the Department of Civil Engineering and Dr. Cindy Nakatsu
in the Agronomy Department are currently working on developing rapid methods
to investigate the effect of disinfectants (i.e. gamma irradiation, ozone,
chlorination) on pathogenic microorganisms. Recent outbreaks of pathogenic
microorganisms in drinking water systems (i.e Cryptosporidium parvum,
Giardia sp., E.coli) demonstrate the need for a rapid and reliable
method to identify and characterize viable organisms in environmental samples.
The recent development of fluorochrome labeled rRNA-targeted probes
combined with improvements in flow cytometric instrumentation offers an
exciting opportunity to study mixed microbial communities in drinking water
systems and to understand microbial responses to changing environmental
conditions. These probes allow specific identification of targeted
microorganisms, and more importantly can provide an indication of cell
viability and community response to environmental stress.