Study about Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy

Abstract

In the present work, the Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy [FTIRS] was used to type Enterococcus sp. that was isolated from a hospital in an attempt to develop a standardized procedure for the differentiation and characterization of Enterococci. The Enterococcus genus is one of the most common causes of nosocomial infections, which can be difficult to treat, especially with the rise of Vancomycin-resistant strains. The study of Enterococcus isolates is critical for epidemiological research. Traditional phenotypic and genotypic approaches are frequently used to type Enterococci. FTIR spectroscopy results compared to antibiotic susceptibility testing and PCR amplification of Vancomycin gene results; the analysis showed that, 6 isolates were positive for Van gene (4 of VanA, 1 of VanB and 1 VanA plus VanB). Three of VanA and VanA plus VanB were resistant to all antibiotic tested (Ampicillin, Teicoplamin and Vancomycin) and VanB was found to be sensitive. FTIR spectroscopy (first deriv- atives) divided the isolates into 8 groups. 3 groups of VanA (4 isolates), one of VanB (one isolate), one of VanA plus VanB (one isolate) and the other 13 Enterococcus isolates were divided into 3 clusters. The study demonstrated that FTIR spectroscopy has good discriminative capacity and high reproducibility as compared to other techniques. This observation also indicates that Enterococci bacteria species have organic compounds which can be used to identify its type and it is believed that FTIR has great potential in such clinical microbiology application.