氧化压力下沙门氏菌可培养性检测及其活的非可培养状态形成情况

【背景】氧化压力会导致细菌进入活的非可培养(viable but non-culturable,VBNC)状态,菌落形成能力可能受到亚致死损伤的影响。目前对于VBNC态细菌的定量检测是基于活菌数与可培养数的差值,因此可培养数的检测对于VBNC态定量研究很关键,培养基组成不合适可能会造成漏检。【目的】分析培养基组成对氧化压力下亚致死损伤细菌检测的重要影响;探究常见食源性致病菌肠炎沙门氏菌在氧化压力下形成VBNC态的情况。【方法】分别采用Luria-Bertani (LB)、beef peptone yeast (BPY)和Salmonella Shigella (SS)培养基检测并比较肠炎沙门氏菌的可培养数;采用RT-qPCR、荧光染色-激光共聚焦显微镜观测氧化压力下肠炎沙门氏菌形成VBNC态的情况。【结果】非选择性培养基LB和BPY能检出亚致死细菌,SS培养基中牛胆盐导致可培养数减少;肠炎沙门氏菌经53°C过氧化氢处理1.5 h后进入VBNC态的比例显著高于53°C过氧化氢+亚铁离子和过氧化氢+柠檬酸处理(P<0.05)。【结论】在对VBNC态的检测中应选择合适的固体培养基检测可...     

细菌在逆境条件下膜脂肪酸变化的研究进展

细胞膜是控制细菌细胞进行物质交换的屏障。在逆境条件下,细菌通过改变细胞膜脂肪酸的组分和含量,以调整适当的膜流动性和适应性,保护细胞膜免受不利和多变逆境条件的影响。有些细菌在逆境胁迫的条件下会进入活的但不可培养的(Viable but non-culturable, VBNC)状态。总结了细菌几种逆境胁迫及其诱导因子,并论述了细菌和部分具有VBNC态细菌在逆境胁迫下膜脂肪酸的种类及含量的变化、以及脂肪酸检测方法的研究进展,为进一步解析细菌逆境胁迫机制提供参考。     

活的不可培养的细菌的研究进展

活的不可培养微生物(VBNC)即一些微生物明显地丧失了可培养的特性,但是保留了自身原有的代谢活力,并且在一定条件下,又可以回复到可培养的状态。从VBNC细菌的诱导条件、生物学特性和检测方法3个方面对VBNC细菌研究进展做一综述。     

细菌“活的不可培养状态”的生态意义及研究进展

"活的不可培养(VBNC)"状态是细菌在不良条件下的一种生存方式.VBNC状态作为细菌的一种生理状态,对传统微生物学产生了深远的影响.进入VBNC状态的细胞发生了一系列变化,无法继续用常规培养方法检测,在医学健康,环境科学等领域产生了巨大的影响,改进检测方法具有重要的意义.本文介绍了进入VBNC状态细菌在DNA、蛋白质组成等方面发生的变化,复苏过程.同时还介绍了VBNC状态的最新检测方法,最后对VBNC状态未来的研究方法进行了讨论.     

空肠弯曲菌活而不可培养状态的产毒素能力及毒素基因表达的检测

目的 通过诱导空肠弯曲菌进入活的不可培养(VBNC)状态建立细胞学模型,用VeroE6细胞和HeLa细胞检测空肠弯曲菌产细胞膨胀性肠毒素(cytotoxic distendingtoxin,CDT)能力的改变,并在RNA水平上进一步验证毒素的表达。方法 采用4℃冷藏及-70℃冷冻的方法诱导空肠弯曲菌进入VBNC状态,利用细胞总数计算、活细胞染色计数及可培养细胞计数间接确证VBNC状态细菌的存在,细胞对于VBNC状态下的细菌仍然敏感,并用反转录-聚合酶链反应(RT-PCR)证实空肠弯曲菌毒素基因的表达。结果 3种不同状态的细胞计数结果表明存活细胞进入了VBNC状态,细菌经4℃冷藏及-70℃冷冻后数量减少约1个数量级,在冷冻前,细菌对细胞毒性较强,72h时70%以上细胞凋亡,冷冻后的VBNC状态细菌对VeroE6和HeLa细胞的生长仍有影响,72h时约有40%细胞进入凋亡状态。结论 低温、贫养条件下空肠弯曲菌可进入VBNC状态,用常规传统的羊血平板培养基仅能使不到10%的空肠弯曲菌复苏生长,从而可以检测,在VBNC状态时,空肠弯曲菌产毒素能力改变较大,远远低于正常状态,但仍具备产毒素的能力,也从RNA水平实验得到证实。     

低温寡营养条件下副溶血弧菌形成活的非可培养状态及其复苏研究

为研究在低温寡营养条件下副溶血弧菌(Vibrio parahaemolyticus)能否进入活的非可培养状态(VBNC),将浓度为1×1010CFU/mL的副溶血弧菌HW799在陈海水中4℃保存,每隔5天取样分别用吖啶橙染色荧光显微镜直接计数法(AODC)、活菌直接计数法(DVC)和涂布平板法(PC)测定细菌总数、活细菌数和可培养细菌数.在第30天时总细菌数基本不变,仍保持在109CFU/mL,活菌数为106CFU/mL,比总菌数低了约三个数量级,可培养细菌数为零,表明绝大部分副溶血弧菌HW799进入了VBNC状态;用扫描电镜、流式细胞仪对副溶血弧菌HW799活的非可培养状态、正常状态以及复苏后的细胞形态的研究表明进入VBNC状态后副溶血弧菌HW799形状变为球状,体积比正常状态明显变小,活细胞数也略有减少;采用在培养液中添加营养物质升温培养的方法,使VBNC状态的副溶血弧菌细胞在48h内复苏为可培养状态,复苏后的副溶血弧菌HW799与正常状态的细菌形态相似.     

环境中"活的非可培养(VBNC)"细菌的研究进展

1982年徐怀恕等通过对V.cholerae和E.coli存活规律的研究,首次发现并提出了细菌“活的非可培养”状态(Viable but non—culturable state,VBNC),即细菌处于不良环境条件下,其细胞通常缩成球形(最近许多研究中发现还有些细菌表现为体积增大,细胞伸长),用常规方法培养不能使其生长繁殖,但仍然具有代谢活性,在DNA合成抑制剂的作用下,添加一定量的营养物培养时,这些细胞虽然不能分裂,但仍可以伸长生长,证明其仍然存活,并非死亡。处于VBNC状态的细菌,在一定的条件下可以复苏,并具有潜在的致病性,如V.cholerae即通过这种形式实现越冬。至今已有多种细菌进入VBNC状态的报道,许多G^-菌及某些不形成芽胞的G^ 菌在不良环境条件下都可能进入该状态。这些细菌通过进入VBNC状态,得以渡过难关并存活下来,成为细菌的一种特殊存活形式。现在,细菌VBNC状态已作为微生物学的一个全新概念,受到极大的关注,它对传统的微生态学、食品安全、水质监测、菌种保藏及流行病学研究等均提出了新的挑战,也为人们应用基因工程菌的危险性评估提供了新的认识,本文对环境中VBNC细菌的研究进展进行了综述。     

细菌有活力但不可培养状态及其机制研究进展

有活力但不可培养(viable but non-culturable,VBNC)状态是细菌遭遇逆境时进入的一种特殊状态,该状态下的菌体在条件适宜时可复苏并恢复其致病性,被认为是细菌躲避不良环境的一种生存策略。VBNC状态菌体对人类医学和工农业生产具有巨大的潜在威胁,开展关于VBNC状态的检测及诱导、复苏及其机制研究可为减少或避免该状态细菌的危害提供理论基础。本文简要综述了细菌VBNC状态在诱导、复苏及致病性等方面的研究进展,并结合本实验室及国内外相关团队近年来在植物病原细菌VBNC状态研究中的结果,详细总结了VBNC状态细菌的形成和复苏机制,对植物病原细菌在环境胁迫下的存活机制、病害田间初侵染来源分析及VBNC状态菌体在病害循环中的作用等相关研究具有重要参考意义。     

活的但不可培养的微生物

Colwell实验室在1982年提出活的但不可培养微生物的概念,他们发现将霍乱弧菌和大肠埃希菌(简称大肠杆菌)转到不含营养物质的盐水中,经长时间的低温保存,细菌会进入一种数量不减、有代谢活力、但在正常实验室培养条件下不能生长产生菌落的状态,称为活的但不可培养(viable but nonculturable,VBNC)状态[1].     

致病微生物应对环境胁迫形成的VBNC状态及其对风险评估的潜在影响

防止食源性致病菌对食品的污染是保障食品安全的重要策略之一。研究表明,环境胁迫下微生物可能形成"活的不可培养状态"(VBNC状态),成为食品安全的潜在风险。本文对致病微生物VBNC状态的最近发现进行了归纳和总结,重点分析了不同环境胁迫(包括自然胁迫以及食品加工和保藏过程中的各种胁迫等)因素下菌体进入VBNC状态的普遍性、诱导条件和生理特点等,并对现行的基于微生物可培养性而建立起来的常规检测方法的局限性及其对食品安全风险评估潜在影响进行了讨论。     

微生物VBNC状态形成及复苏机制

99%以上的微生物因处于活的但非可培养(viable but non-culturable,VBNC)状态而无法分离培养。复苏促进因子(resuscitation-promoting factors,Rpfs)是培养获取VBNC菌的最重要突破。结合课题组近十余年从环境功能视角利用Rpf复苏培养VBNC菌的研究,本文在阐述微生物VBNC状态的形成及复苏进展的基础上,从VBNC菌形成及复苏过程出发,探究"探索因子"与群体感应的内在关系。并总结了课题组利用Rpf所复苏培养的具有潜在环境功能的VBNC菌种。本论文将为揭示微生物VBNC状态的形成及复苏机制提供新的思路,并为认识和重新评价Rpf法复苏培养VBNC菌在污染环境微生物修复中的作用提供理论依据。     

Cold and carbon dioxide used as multi-hurdle preservation do not induce appearance of viable but non-culturable Listeria monocytogenes

AIMS: To study whether the exposure to cold (4 degrees C) and carbon dioxide which results in the elongation of Listeria cells, induces a viable but nonculturable (VBNC) state. METHODS AND RESULTS: When cold and CO2 stressed L. monocytogenes were observed under a fluorescence microscope, using the LIVE/DEAD BacLight bacteria viability kit (Molecular Probes, Eugene, OR, USA), the healthy, mildly injured, and the putative VBNC cells accounted for 31.0% of the stressed cell population. By using the selective plate count, 31.4% of the same stressed cell population was found to be healthy and mildly injured (putative VBNC cells not included). If there were VBNC state cells present, we should have observed a significant difference between the above two numbers. In fact, there was no significant difference between the results obtained from those two methods. CONCLUSIONS: There were no VBNC state cells observed in the stressed cell population. We conclude that cold and CO2 do not induce L. monocytogenes to enter a VBNC state. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Cold and modified atmospheres are widely used in fresh muscle food and fruit preservation. Whether they would induce L. monocytogenes into a VBNC state is of a great concern for microbial food safety.     

Ethidium and propidium monoazide: comparison of potential toxicity on Vibrio sp. viability

Vibrio sp., ubiquitous in the aquatic ecosystem, are bacteria of interest because of their involvement in human health, causing gastroenteritis after ingestion of seafood, as well as their role in vibriosis leading to severe losses in aquaculture production. Their ability to enter a viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state under stressful environmental conditions may lead to underestimation of the Vibrio population by traditional microbiological enumeration methods. As a result, using molecular methods in combination with EMA or PMA allows the detection of viable (VBNC and culturable viable) cells. In this study, the impact of the EMA and PMA was tested at different concentrations on the viability of several Vibrio species. We compared the toxicity of these two DNA-binding dyes to determine the best pretreatment to use with qPCR to discriminate between viable and dead Vibrio cells. Our results showed that EMA displayed lethal effects for each strain of V. cholerae and V. vulnificus tested. In contrast, the concentrations of PMA tested had no toxic effect on the viability of Vibrio cells studied. These results may help to achieve optimal PMA-qPCR methods to detect viable Vibrio sp. cells in food and environmental samples.     

Revealing potential functions of VBNC bacteria in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons biodegradation

The bioremediation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)‐contaminated sites is not running smoothly, because of the lower activity of PAH‐degrading bacteria in actual bioremediation applications. The phenomenon of “viable but nonculturable” (VBNC) state may be a main limiting factor for their poor biodegradation capabilities of PAHs. Due to their abilities of entering into the VBNC state, most of bacterial populations with PAH‐degradation potential remain unculturable. Resuscitation of VBNC bacteria will enhance the degradation capability of indigenous bacteria which will eventually obtain their better capabilities in environmental bioremediation. Although evidences have been presented indicating that resuscitation of VBNC bacteria in polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)‐contaminated environments not only significantly enhanced PCB degradation, but also obtained novel highly efficient PCB‐degrading bacteria, scanty information is available on the VBNC bacteria in PAH‐contaminated sites. VBNC bacteria, as a vast majority of potential microbial resource could be the repository of novel highly efficient PAH‐biodegraders. Therefore, studies need to be done on resuscitation of VBNC bacteria to overcome key bottlenecks in bioremediation of PAH‐contaminated sites. This mini‐review provides a new insight into the potential functions of VBNC bacteria in PAHs biodegradation.

Significance and Impact of the Study

As the vast majority microbial resource, viable but nonculturable (VBNC) bacteria, which showed their potential functions in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) biodegradation, can be of great significance in environmental bioremediation. It is therefore important to resuscitate VBNC bacteria for their better capabilities. Meanwhile, preventing the indigenous functional community from entering into the VBNC state will also maintain the high activity of PAH‐degrading bacteria in actual bioremediation applications. Undoubtedly, much more work needs to be done to reveal indigenous micro‐organisms in the VBNC state from the perspective of environmental functions.     

Green fluorescent protein-based direct viable count to verify a viable but non-culturable state of Salmonella typhi in environmental samples.

The gfp-tagging method and lux-tagging method were compared to select a better method for verifying a viable but nonculturable (VBNC) state of bacteria in the environment. An environmental isolate of Salmonella typhi was chromosomally marked with a gfp gene encoding green fluorescent protein (GFP). The hybrid transposon mini-Tn5 gfp was transconjugated from E. coli to S. typhi. Using the same method, S. typhi was chromosomally marked with luxAB genes encoding luciferase. The survival of gfp-tagged S. typhi introduced into groundwater microcosms was examined by GFP-based plate count, total cell count, and a direct viable count method. In microcosms containing lux-tagged S. typhi, luminescence-based plate count and the measurement of bioluminescence of each microcosm sample were performed. In microcosms containing lux-tagged S. typhi, viable but nonculturable cells could not be detected by using luminometry. As no distinguishable luminescence signals from the background signals were found in samples containing no culturable cells, a VBNC state of S. typhi could not be verified in lux-based systems. However, comparison between GFP-based direct viable counts and plate counts was a good method for verifying the VBNC state of S. typhi. Because GFP-based direct viable count method provided a direct and precise estimation of viable cells of introduced bacteria into natural environments, it can be used for verifying the VBNC state of bacteria in environmental samples.     

Formation of viable but non-culturable state (VBNC) of Aeromonas hydrophila and its virulence in goldfish, Carassius auratus

In this study we investigated the viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state of Aeromonas hydrophila and its virulence in goldfish. Aeromonas hydrophila cultured in a 0.35% NaCl solution at pH 7.5 and at 25 degrees C for 50 days showed the VBNC state. In the VBNC state we were unable to detect viable bacteria by the plate count method but we did find 10(4) cells/ml by the direct viable count microscopical method after staining with fluorescein diacetate and ethidium bromide. The virulence comparison in goldfish showed that bacteria cultured at 25 degrees C for 1 day in a 0.35% NaCl solution were more virulent than bacteria cultured for 28 days. VBNC bacteria showed lower virulence in goldfish compared to 28-day-cultured bacteria by intraperitoneal injection. The results from the study suggest that A. hydrophila can remain in the aquatic environment for prolonged periods in the VBNC state but those cells are not pathogenic to goldfish.     

Resuscitation rate in different enterococcal species in the viable but non-culturable state

AIMS: The viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state is a survival strategy adopted by bacteria when exposed to environmental stress. When in this state bacteria are no longer culturable on conventional growth media, but cells display metabolic activity and maintain pathogenicity factors/genes and, in some cases, resuscitation from the VBNC state has been shown. This state has been described for both human pathogens and faecal pollution indicators. In this study, we present evidence for entry of different enterococcal species into the VBNC state in an oligotrophic microcosm. METHODS AND RESULTS: The duration of the viability of the cells in the VBNC state was measured either by detecting the presence of pbp5 mRNA or by quantifying their resuscitation capability. Enterococci showed different behaviours. Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus hirae entered into the VBNC state within 2 weeks and remained in that state for 3 months. In the experiments described the resuscitation rate was 1:10 000 cells as soon as the cells entered the VBNC state and decreased gradually to undetectable levels over the following 3 months. Enterococcus faecium, however, remained culturable up to 4 weeks. After this time period, when the population was totally unculturable, the cells were far less resuscitable than other enterococci and only over a narrow time interval (2 weeks). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that Ent. faecalis and Ent. hirae enter the VBNC state but that Ent. faecium, in an oligotrophic laboratory environment, tends to die instead of entering the VBNC state. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: These experiments may mimic what happens when enterococci are released by humans and animals in natural environments.     

Changes in viability and macromolecular content of long-term batch cultures of Salmonella typhimurium measured by flow cytometry

Exposure of many Gram-negative bacteria to prolonged starvation induces alternative programmes of gene expression, along with a transition into a dormant condition sometimes referred to as a viable non-culturable (VBNC) state. Knowledge of how pathogenic species respond to nutrient limitation is therefore important for their detection and dissemination. This study used flow cytometry, coupled with fluorescent dyes for viability and macromolecular content, to study the responses of the pathogen Salmonella typhimurium to prolonged batch culture. Statistical analysis of the flow cytometric data, together with total and culturable cell counts, failed to demonstrate a VBNC state in this pathogen, contrary to reports from other workers. Analysis of rRNA and protein content identified a small proportion of cells in 110 day-old cultures that represented an active sub-population. This observation may provide an explanation for the long-term survival properties of this organism during prolonged exposure to nutrient limitation, as well as the high degree of heterogeneity observed in labelled cells.