Detection and Characterization of Airborne Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra Particles, A Surrogate for Airborne Pathogenic M. tuberculosis

Abstract

There is currently no direct sampling and analytical method available for monitoring airborne environmental Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis ) expelled from the human respiratory tract. Traditional sampling and analytical methods fail to detect airborne environmental M. tuberculosis . To circumvent the need for traditional microbial culturing in order to detect and identify environmental M. tuberculosis , a commercial DNA diagnostic method involving the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) coupled with an enzymatically-generated color reaction was interfaced with air sampling methods. Using a laboratory-conditioned avirulent mycobacteria strain, M. tuberculosis H37Ra, as a surrogate for pathogenic M. tuberculosis , a single copy of purified M. tuberculosis H37Ra DNA could be detected. A small number of lysed mycobacteria particles, < 10 particles, could also be detected. To develop a sampling method for airborne M. tuberculosis , liquid suspensions of M. tuberculosis H37Ra were aerosolized in a bioa...