title: Determination of microbial chemical markers by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry--potential for diagnosis and studies on metabolism in situ. Review article.
abstract: Different strategies for the application of gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) in medical microbiology research are discussed. GC can be used to determine specific microbial monomeric constituents and metabolites, so-called chemical markers, in cultures of microorganisms; in particular, analysis of cellular fatty acids has proven useful for species characterization and identification. GC-MS can be applied to study chemical markers directly in complex environmental samples, as exemplified by the analysis of airborne organic material as regards muramic acid (marker of peptidoglycan), 3-hydroxy acids (endotoxins), and ergosterol (fungal biomass). This methodological approach represents an alternative to various biological assays for characterization of airborne microbial structures, and forms a firm basis for correlating inhalation of such structures and development of symptoms. Direct GC-MS analysis of clinical samples provides possibilities for diagnosis (here exemplified by chiral separation of urine D- and L-arabinitol in disseminated candidiasis) and insight into microbial metabolism in the infected host (exemplified by observed indications of mycobacterial build-up of mycolic acids in vivo), with implications for drug development. Continued developments in MS technology will allow rapid advances to be made in GC-MS research in microbiology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Larsson
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D002177:Candidiasis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004731:Endotoxins / Q000032:analysis; D004875:Ergosterol / Q000032:analysis; D005658:Fungi / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D006880:Hydroxy Acids / Q000032:analysis; D008828:Microbiological Techniques
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D004731:Endotoxins; D006880:Hydroxy Acids; D004875:Ergosterol