TY  - JOUR
A1  - Forster, Johannes
A1  - Kohlmorgen, Britta
A1  - Haas, Julian
A1  - Weis, Philipp
A1  - Breunig, Lukas
A1  - Turnwald, Doris
A1  - Mizaikoff, Boris
A1  - Schoen, Christoph
T1  - A streamlined method for the fast and cost-effective detection of bacterial pathogens from positive blood cultures for the BacT/ALERT blood culture system using the Vitek MS mass spectrometer
JF  - PLoS ONE
N2  - Background and objective
Prompt pathogen identification of blood stream infections is essential to provide appropriate antibiotic treatment. Therefore, the objective of this prospective single centre study was to establish an inexpensive, fast and accurate protocol for bacterial species identification with SDS protein-extraction directly from BacT/Alert® blood culture (BC) bottles by VitekMS®.

Results
Correct species identification was obtained for 198/266 (74.4%, 95%-CI = [68.8%, 79.6%]) of pathogens. The protocol was more successful in identifying 87/96 (91.4%, 95%-CI = [83.8%, 93.2%]) gram-negative bacteria than 110/167 (65.9%, 95%-CI = [58.1%, 73.0%]) gram-positive bacteria. The hands-on time for sample preparation and measurement was about 15 min for up to five samples. This is shorter than for most other protocols using a similar lysis-centrifugation approach for the combination of BacT/Alert® BC bottles and the Vitek® MS mass spectrometer. The estimated costs per sample were approx. 1.80€ which is much cheaper than for commercial kits.

Conclusion
This optimized protocol allows for accurate identification of bacteria directly from blood culture bottles for laboratories equipped with BacT/Alert® blood culture bottles and VitekMS® mass spectrometer.
KW  - bacterial pathogens
KW  - blood stream infections
KW  - BacT/ALERT
Y1  - 2022
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-300213
VL  - 17
IS  - 4
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - China, Swarup
A1  - Burrows, Susannah M.
A1  - Wang, Bingbing
A1  - Harder, Tristan H.
A1  - Weis, Johannes
A1  - Tanarhte, Meryem
A1  - Rizzo, Luciana V.
A1  - Brito, Joel
A1  - Cirino, Glauber G.
A1  - Ma, Po-Lun
A1  - Cliff, John
A1  - Artaxo, Paulo
A1  - Gilles, Mary K.
A1  - Laskin, Alexander
T1  - Fungal spores as a source of sodium salt particles in the Amazon basin
JF  - Nature Communications
N2  - In the Amazon basin, particles containing mixed sodium salts are routinely observed and are attributed to marine aerosols transported from the Atlantic Ocean. Using chemical imaging analysis, we show that, during the wet season, fungal spores emitted by the forest biosphere contribute at least 30% (by number) to sodium salt particles in the central Amazon basin. Hydration experiments indicate that sodium content in fungal spores governs their growth factors. Modeling results suggest that fungal spores account for ~69% (31–95%) of the total sodium mass during the wet season and that their fractional contribution increases during nighttime. Contrary to common assumptions that sodium-containing aerosols originate primarily from marine sources, our results suggest that locally-emitted fungal spores contribute substantially to the number and mass of coarse particles containing sodium. Hence, their role in cloud formation and contribution to salt cycles and the terrestrial ecosystem in the Amazon basin warrant further consideration.
KW  - atmospheric chemistry
KW  - biogeochemistry
KW  - environmental sciences
Y1  - 2018
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-222492
VL  - 9
ER  -