Live/Dead Bacterial Spore Assay Using DPA-Triggered Tb Luminescence

  • Magazine Article
  • TBMG-29411
Published March 01, 2003 by Tech Briefs Media Group in United States
Language:
  • English

A method of measuring the fraction of bacterial spores in a sample that remain viable exploits DPA-triggered luminescence of Tb3+ and is based partly on the same principles as those described in the immediately preceding article. Unlike prior methods for performing such live/dead assays of bacterial spores, this method does not involve counting colonies formed by cultivation (which can take days), or counting of spores under a microscope, and works whether or not bacterial spores are attached to other small particles (i.e., dust), and can be implemented on a time scale of about 20 minutes.