Current established bacterial identification techniques (cell culture and
genetic analysis), are often costly and time-consuming processes. The ability to
rapidly identify bacteria offers utility in a number of important areas, especially
where pathogens could be left in a natural environment for a prolonged period of time, on various different backgrounds after their initial release. The 2015 UK
National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review (NSS SD) lists an attack on the UK or its Overseas Territories by another state or proxy using chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) weapons as a tier 2 threat; therefore, methods to identify biological warfare agents (BWAs) are a major priority for bio-defence. Vibrational spectroscopy is a rapid, cheap and non-destructive technique that has previously been used to identify bacteria. This project uses varying temperature and humidity levels to represent a hot dry climate and assess the impact upon the bacteria using vibrational spectroscopy. The main focus of the project looks at the effect that substrate and environmental conditions have on the spectral signature of bacteria. The bacteria chosen for this study include surrogates of BWAs and bacteria that are commonly found in the environment. The results of the project demonstrate that Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy is the optimal method for bacterial identification when compared with Raman for identifying samples found on complex matrices. Supervised and unsupervised multivariate analysis (MVA) of the data was performed using principle component analysis (PCA) and discriminant function analysis (DFA) to show separation of Gram-type, bacterial strain and time point. This project shows the development of a methodology that can be used on a handheld spectrometer where the spectral contribution from a complex matrix is removed to provide a bacterial spectrum. This methodology has great promise for rapid, in situ identification of ‘real world’ BWA samples.
| Date of Award | 22 Mar 2019 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Awarding Institution | - University Of Strathclyde
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| Sponsors | University of Strathclyde & Defence Science and Technology Laboratory DSTL MoD |
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| Supervisor | Matthew Baker (Supervisor) & Karen Faulds (Supervisor) |
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