Raman spectroscopy as a novel technique for the identification of pathogens in a clinical microbiology laboratory

Raman spectroscopy is a vibrational spectroscopic technique with which the molecular fingerprint of a microorganism can be elucidated in 1 hr or less. In our study, the utility of this method as a rapid technique for the detection of different pathogens in a clinical microbiology laboratory was tested based on their unique spectra. The reference strains from American Type Culture Collection for frequently encountered pathogens such as <i>Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Acinetobacter baumannii</i>, and <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> were used to capture the signature spectra of these pathogenic species using confocal Raman microscopy. Furthermore, a representative reference library was constructed using the spectra of these standard strains as well as the clinical isolates. The study revealed unique spectral outputs for each bacterial species studied. Importantly, the entire procedure could be performed in an hour. With the development of an extensive database, the spectra of unknown samples can be matched with those in the library, and thus, a new identification system can be developed.

拉曼光谱（Raman spectroscopy）是一种振动光谱技术，可在1小时及更短时间内解析微生物的分子指纹特征。本研究基于不同病原体的独特光谱特征，评估了该方法作为快速检测技术在临床微生物实验室中检测各类病原体的实用性。本研究使用美国典型培养物保藏中心（American Type Culture Collection, ATCC）保藏的临床常见病原体参考菌株，包括金黄色葡萄球菌（Staphylococcus aureus）、大肠埃希菌（Escherichia coli）、鲍曼不动杆菌（Acinetobacter baumannii）及铜绿假单胞菌（Pseudomonas aeruginosa），通过共聚焦拉曼显微镜（confocal Raman microscopy）采集这些病原菌的特征光谱。此外，本研究利用上述标准菌株及临床分离株的光谱构建了代表性参考光谱库。研究结果显示，所测试的每种细菌均具有独特的光谱输出特征。尤为关键的是，整个检测流程可在1小时内完成。随着大规模数据库的构建，未知样本的光谱可与光谱库中的参考光谱进行匹配，进而可开发出全新的微生物鉴定系统。