Abstract:
Objective To establish a rapid enrichment technique for Bacillus anthracis in soil samples based on immunomagnetic beads separation techniques (IMS).
Methods B. anthracis vaccine strain spores were cultured and used to immunize rabbits for the preparation of rabbit polyclonal antibodies for immunomagnetic beads (IMBs). The sensitivity evaluation of different IMBs in enriching B. anthracis vaccine strain spores was evaluated using the colony counting method, with tests conducted on both spores dilutions and simulated soil samples. The optimal concentration and volume of the extraction liquid for spore recovery were identified by comparing the extraction efficiency of B. anthracis vaccine spores from simulated soil samples. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used to evaluate the enrichment and detection effects of IMS on B. anthracis vaccine strain spores in simulated soil samples and B. anthracis virulent strain spores in positive soil samples.
Results The optimal extraction liquid was 0.5% Triton X-100 phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) solution with 200% (W/V) sucrose. The highest spore extraction efficiency was achieved via differential centrifugation when the volume ratio of extraction solution to the soil sample suspension was 4∶1. IMBs prepared using Dynabeads antibody coupling kit exhibited a sensitivity of 102 colony forming units(CFU)/mL for B. anthracis vaccine strain spores in both diluent and simulated soil samples. The detection of target gene BA_5345 with qPCR indicated that in simulated soil samples, IMS improved the qPCR cycle threshold (Ct) values by 4−8 cycles compared with control samples. This method was further applied to detect B. anthracis virulent strain in spores-positive soil samples, the results indicated that the Ct values for three target genes (BA_5345, pagA and capC) in the IMS-treated group were detected approximately 5− 8 cycles earlier than those in the control group (K−, K0).
Conclusions The combination of spore extraction pretreatment with IMBs enrichment can rapidly and effectively concentrates B. anthracis spores in soil samples while improving detection sensitivity. This simple and practical method provides effective technical support for the rapid detection and traceability analysis of anthrax epidemics.