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Biology subjects

Guindo, C. O.

Publications and source records attributed to Guindo, C. O..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry identification of methanogens of clinical interest.

Methanogens, the archaea uniquely detoxifying fermentative hydrogen into methane in the digestive tract, are increasingly detected in pathology situations, rendering their rapid identification mandatory. We improved the experimental protocol to identify broth-cultured methanogens by matrix-assisted laser desorption time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI- TOF-MS). A database incorporating 34 reference spectra derived from 16 methanogen reference strains representative of eight species, supported further identification of 21 Methanobrevibacter smithii and 14 Methanobrevibacter oralis isolates broth-cultured from human stool and oral fluid, respectively, with scores > 2. In addition, MALDI-TOF-MS differentiated five Methanobrevibacter smithii genotypes incorporated in the study. Data here reported found MALDI-TOF-MS as a first line identification method for methanogens recovered from microbiota and clinical samples.

microbiology↗

Dairy products as sources of methanogens for humans

Methanogens are detected in human gut from the first moments of life and there is a diversification of methanogens during infancy. However, the sources of acquisition of methanogens are not well elucidated. We therefore investigated 56 dairy products as potential sources of methanogens by applying molecular biology. In the presence of negative controls, we obtained an overall prevalence of methanogens in 85.7% (48/56) of samples by real-time PCR. Further PCR-sequencing identified 73.2% (41/56) of Methanobrevibacter smithii. We also found for the first time in dairy products 1.8% (1/56) of Methanobrevibacter oralis, 7.1% (4/56) of Methanobrevibacter millerae, 1.8% (1/56) of Methanobrevibacter ruminantium, 1.8% (1/56) of Methanocorpusculum sp. We observed a significant presence (p-value=0.001) of methanogens in fermented dairy products compared to unfermented dairy products. This study gives credit to the fact that dairy products could be considered as a source of methanogens for humans, especially for children.

microbiology↗

Culture of salivary methanogens assisted by chemically produced hydrogen

Methanogen cultures require hydrogen produced by fermentative bacteria such as Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (biological method). We developed an alternative method for hydrogen production using iron filings and acetic acid with the aim of cultivating methanogens more efficiently and more quickly (chemical method). We developed this new method with a reference strain of Methanobrevibacter oralis, compared the method to the biological reference method with a reference strain of Methanobrevibacter smithii and finally applied the method to 50 saliva samples. Methanogen colonies counted using ImageJ software were identified using epifluorescence optical microscopy, real-time PCR and PCR sequencing. For cultures containing the pure strains of M. oralis and M. smithii, colonies appeared three days postinoculation with the chemical method versus nine days with the biological method. The average number of M. smithii colonies was significantly higher with the chemical method than with the biological method. There was no difference in the delay of observation of the first colonies in the saliva samples between the two methods. However, the average number of colonies was significantly higher when using the biological method than when using the chemical method at six days and nine days postinoculation (Students test, p = 0.005 and p = 0.04, respectively). The chemical method made it possible to isolate four strains of M. oralis and three strains of M. smithii from the 50 saliva samples. Establishing the chemical method will ease the routine isolation and culture of methanogens.

microbiology↗