Publication
Title
Comparison of viable plate count, turbidity measurement and real-time PCR for quantification of Porphyromonas gingivalis
Author
Abstract
The viable plate count (VPC) is considered as the reference method for bacterial enumeration in periodontal microbiology but shows some important limitations for anaerobic bacteria. As anaerobes such as Porphyromonas gingivalis are difficult to culture, VPC becomes time-consuming and less sensitive. Hence, efficient normalization of experimental data to bacterial cell count requires alternative rapid and reliable quantification methods. This study compared the performance of VPC with that of turbidity measurement and real-time PCR (qPCR) in an experimental context using highly concentrated bacterial suspensions. Our TaqMan-based qPCR assay for P. gingivalis 16S rRNA proved to be sensitive and specific. Turbidity measurements offer a fast method to assess P. gingivalis growth, but suffer from high variability and a limited dynamic range. VPC was very time-consuming and less repeatable than qPCR. Our study concludes that qPCR provides the most rapid and precise approach for P. gingivalis quantification. Although our data were gathered in a specific research context, we believe that our conclusions on the inferior performance of VPC and turbidity measurements in comparison to qPCR can be extended to other research and clinical settings and even to other difficult-to-culture micro-organisms.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Letters in applied microbiology. - Oxford
Publication
Oxford : 2015
ISSN
0266-8254
DOI
10.1111/LAM.12341
Volume/pages
60 :1 (2015) , p. 79-84
ISI
000346590200012
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
Research on bacterial virulence inhibitors with predictive in vitro and in vivo models.
The role of bacterial biofilms as a major cause of therapeutic failure in intensive care units (ICU): an in vitro and in vivo study of 'biofilm' virulence factors.
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 28.11.2014
Last edited 09.10.2023
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