Journal of Forensic Sciences 2015-07-01

Fatty Acid Profiles for Differentiating Growth Medium Formulations Used to Culture Bacillus cereus T-strain Spores.

Christopher J Ehrhardt, Devonie L Murphy, James M Robertson, Jason D Bannan

Index: J. Forensic Sci. 60 , 1022-9, (2015)

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Abstract

Microbial biomarkers that indicate aspects of an organism's growth conditions are important targets of forensic research. In this study, we examined fatty acid composition as a signature for the types of complex nutrients in the culturing medium. Bacillus cereus T-strain spores were grown in medium formulations supplemented with one of the following: peptone (meat protein), tryptone (casein protein), soy protein, and brain-heart infusion. Cellular biomass was profiled with fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) analysis. Results showed peptone cultures produced spores enriched in straight-chained lipids. Tryptone cultures produced spores enriched in branched-odd lipids when compared with peptone, soy, and brain-heart formulations. The observed FAME variation was used to construct a set of discriminant functions that could help identify the nutrients in a culturing recipe for an unknown spore sample. Blinded classification tests were most successful for spores grown on media containing peptone and tryptone, showing 88% and 100% correct identification, respectively. © 2015 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.