J Korean Soc Microbiol.
2000 Feb;35(1):31-40.
Analysis of cellular fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) for the identification of Bacillus anthracis
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Microbiology, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
Abstract
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Bacillus anthracis, the etiological agent of anthrax has been
classified into the Bacillus subgroup I with B. cereus, B. mycoides and
B. thuringiensis based on morphological and DNA similarity. DNA studies
have further indicated that these species have very AT-rich genomes and
high homology, indeed it has been proposed that these four sub-species be
recognized as members of the one species. Several methods have been
developed to obtain good differentiation between these species. However,
none of these methods provides the means for an absolutely correct
differntiation. The analysis of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) was
employed as a quick, simple and reliable method for the identification of
21 B. anthracis strains and closley related strains. The most significant
differences were found between B. anthracis and B. anthracis closely
related strains in FAMEs profiles. All tested strains of B. anthracis had
a branched fatty acid C17:1 Anteiso A, whereas the fraction of
unsaturated fatty acid Iso C17:1 w10c was found in B. anthracis closely
related strains. By UPGMA clustering analysis of FAMEs profiles, all of
the tested strains were classified into two clusters defined at Euclidian
distance value of 24.5. The tested strains of B. anthracis were clustered
together including Bacillus sp. Kyungjoo 3. However, the isolates of B.
anthracis closely related spp. Rho, S10A, 11R1, CAU9910, CAU9911, CAU9912
and CAU9913 were clustered with the other group. On the basis of these
results
, isolates of B. anthracis Bongchon, Kyungjoo 1, 2 and Bacillus sp. Kyungjoo 3 were reclassified as a B. anthracis. It is concluded that FAMEs analysis provides a sensitive and reliable method for the identification of B. anthracis from closely related taxa.
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