Detection and differentiation of bacterial spores in a mineral matrix by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and chemometrical data treatment

We investigated spores from pure cultures of seven different Bacillus species by FTIR in reflection or transmission mode followed by chemometrical data treatment. All species investigated (B. atrophaeus, B. brevis, B. circulans, B. lentus, B. megaterium, B. subtilis, B. thuringiensis) are typical aerobic soil-borne spore formers. Additionally, a solid matrix (bentonite) and mixtures of benonite with spores of B. megaterium at various wt/wt ratios were included in the study. Both hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis of the spectra along with multidimensional scaling allowed the discrimination of different species and spore-matrix-mixtures.Our results show that FTIR spectroscopy is a fast method for species-level discrimination of Bacillus spores. Spores were still detectable in the presence of the clay mineral bentonite. Even a tenfold excess of bentonite (corresponding to 2.1 × 1010 colony forming units per gram of mineral matrix) still resulted in an unambiguous identification of B. megaterium spores.Infrared spectroscopy of a chemical compound or material is based on the absorption of radiation energy in the infrared range (near infrared, NIR, 780 nm to 2.5 μm, 12821 to 4000 cm-1; mid infrared, MIR, 2.5 to 25 μm, 4000 to 400 cm-1; far infrared FIR, 25 μm to 1 mm, 400 to 10 cm-1). Absorption peaks correspond to vibrations or rotations of the chemical bonds (e.g., C-H, N-H, or C-O) between the atoms making up the material. Because each different material is a unique combination of atoms, no two compounds produce exactly the same infrared spectrum resulting in a characteristic infrared "fingerprint". Consequently, infrared spectroscopy can result in a positive identification of basically every different kind of material. Although infrared spectroscopy has been routinely used as analytical tool in chemistry for many years, this technique has only recently been applied in environmental microbiology or microbial ecology.In 1911, W.W. Coblentz (