Data from: Specificity and strain-typing capabilities of Nanorod Array-Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy for Mycoplasma pneumoniae detection

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a cell wall-less bacterial pathogen of the human
respiratory tract that accounts for > 20% of all community-acquired
pneumonia (CAP). At present the most effective means for detection and
strain-typing is quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), which can
exhibit excellent sensitivity and specificity but requires separate tests
for detection and genotyping, lacks standardization between available
tests and between labs, and has limited practicality for widespread,
point-of-care use. We have developed and previously described a silver
nanorod array-surface enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (NA-SERS) biosensing
platform capable of detecting M. pneumoniae with statistically significant
specificity and sensitivity in simulated and true clinical throat swab
samples, and the ability to distinguish between reference strains of the
two main genotypes of M. pneumoniae. Furthermore, we have established a
qualitative lower endpoint of detection for NA-SERS of < 1 genome
equivalent (cell/μl) and a quantitative multivariate detection limit of
5.3 ± 1 cells/μl. Here we demonstrate using partial least squares-
discriminatory analysis (PLS-DA) of sample spectra that NA-SERS correctly
identified M. pneumoniae clinical isolates from globally diverse origins
and distinguished these from a panel of 12 other human commensal and
pathogenic mycoplasma species with 100% cross-validated statistical
accuracy. Furthermore, PLS-DA correctly classified by strain type all 30
clinical isolates with 96% cross-validated accuracy for type 1 strains,
98% cross-validated accuracy for type 2 strains, and 90% cross-validated
accuracy for type 2V strains.