Expanded Selective Bacterial Enumeration with the TEMPO Most Probable Number Technique for AATCC Test Method 100

Abstract

Enumeration of bacteria is a large component in standard testing of antimicrobial textiles; however, there are multiple plating methods used that are tedious and labor intensive to perform. TEMPO is an instrument that automates much of the enumeration process using the most probable number (MPN) technique. Selective reagents for Staphylococcus aureus (salt) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (cetrimide) were used to expand TEMPO capability. It was demonstrated that TEMPO had either the same or smaller variance than the traditional spread plating for cells in solution and on textiles tested using AATCC Test Method (TM) 100. TEMPO is a faster and more cost-effective method, and with expanded selective capabilities, can be used to improve enumeration efficiency.