Previous Article | Next Article 
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2005, p. 2748-2752, Vol. 71, No. 5
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/AEM.71.5.2748-2752.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Enumeration of Respiring Pseudomonas spp. in Milk within 6 Hours by Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization following Formazan Reduction
Akiko Kitaguchi,
Nobuyasu Yamaguchi, and
Masao Nasu*
Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University, 1-6 Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
Received 2 September 2004/
Accepted 22 November 2004

ABSTRACT
Respiring
Pseudomonas spp. in milk were quantified within 6
h by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with vital staining.
FISH with an oligonucleotide probe based on 16S rRNA sequences
was used for the specific detection of
Pseudomonas spp. at the
single cell level. 5-Cyano-2,3-ditolyl tetrazolium chloride
(CTC) was used to estimate bacterial respiratory activity. The
numbers of respiring
Pseudomonas cells as determined by FISH
with CTC staining (CTC-FISH) were almost the same or higher
than the numbers of CFU as determined by the conventional culture
method.

INTRODUCTION
Conventional culture methods are commonly used for the microbiological
quality assurance of food and drink. These methods are simple
but generally require more than 24 h to yield reliable results.
Underestimation of bacterial numbers sometimes occurs, because
the cells which are viable but no longer culturable by culture
methods are difficult to detect. Therefore, rapid and simple
culture-independent methods are required.
Several culture-independent methods are used for the detection of bacteria in food. PCR is one of the most useful techniques because of its high sensitivity. Reverse transcription-PCR, in particular, is a potentially valuable technique for the detection of viable bacteria (13, 27); however, these techniques require the extraction of nucleic acid from samples, and PCRs are sometimes inhibited by components of food, such as lipids, proteins, and salts (30). Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is also used frequently for the detection of bacteria in food (28); however, it is often used in conjunction with culture methods and incurs the limitations of culture techniques in enumerating bacterial cells. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is widely used and is also suitable for the specific detection of targeted bacteria phylogenetically at species, genus, and family levels (2, 4), because the databases of rRNA sequences are publicly available.
We attempted to enumerate Pseudomonas spp. with physiological activity in milk by combining FISH with 5-cyano-2,3-ditolyl tetrazolium chloride (CTC) staining (CTC-FISH). Pseudomonas spp. are among the most important spoilage bacteria in milk (5, 6). They grow actively during refrigerated storage and produce enzymes, such as protease and lipase, which cause the degradation of milk compounds and reduce its shelf life. CTC is a redox dye widely used for the evaluation of bacterial respiratory activity (23, 24). CTC staining can be applied to anaerobic as well as aerobic bacteria (3). CTC is reduced to red fluorescent CTC-formazan crystals in actively respiring cells. However, the crystals are easily dissolved in organic solvents used in the main processes of FISH, and CTC-stained cells are no longer visible with the conventional FISH procedure.
We optimized the CTC concentration and the procedure for FISH in order to retain CTC-formazan crystals inside cells and detect bacteria with a specific rRNA sequence simultaneously. In addition, the numbers of viable Pseudomonas cells determined by CTC-FISH were also compared with the numbers of CFU determined by the traditional culture technique.

Bacterial strains and culture conditions.
Pseudomonas putida ATCC 12633,
Pseudomonas fluorescens RIMD
1615005, and
Escherichia coli O157:H7 ATCC 43888 cells in the
stationary phase were obtained by incubating them at 30°C
(
P. putida and
P. fluorescens) or 37°C (
E. coli) in liquid
medium (5 g Bacto tryptone [Difco], 1 g glucose, and 2.5 g yeast
extract/liter of distilled water). Starved cells were obtained
by the following procedure.
P. putida cells in the stationary
phase were collected by centrifugation and washed twice with
sterile phosphate-buffered saline (PBS; 130 mM NaCl, 10 mM Na
2HPO
4,
and 10 mM NaH
2PO
4 [pH 7.2]). Washed cells were collected by
centrifugation, suspended in PBS (10
6 cells/ml), and stored
at 4°C without shaking in the dark for 4 weeks. The cells
were considered to be in the starved state when the number of
culturable cells on standard methods agar (5 g Bacto tryptone,
1 g glucose, 2.5 g yeast extract, and 15 g agar/liter of distilled
water) dropped to less than 5 CFU/ml.
Bacterial cells in the stationary phase or in the starved state were inoculated into the milk (heat treated at 140°C for 2 s; fat
3.5%, protein
3.0%; pH 6.8) purchased from a retail store and used immediately. In this study, enzymes and surfactants were not used for removal of proteins and lipid in milk because these materials in milk were removed during the CTC-FISH procedure.

CTC-FISH procedure.
Yamaguchi et al. stained
E. coli O157:H7 cells in food samples
with 2 mM CTC (
31). However,
Pseudomonas spp. in milk were not
effectively stained with this concentration by the CTC-FISH
method; thus, the CTC concentration was optimized. PBS (400
µl) was added to 100 µl of milk samples, and the
samples were stained with CTC at room temperature (approximately
25°C) for 1 h in the dark. Without the FISH process, the
ratio of CTC-stained
P. putida was approximately 90% of total
P. putida cells with 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 15 mM CTC, and
nonspecific signals by CTC-formazan crystals outside the cells
did not appear. CTC-stained cells, however, were barely detectable
with less than 4 mM CTC, while approximately 90% of respiring
cells were detected with more than 8 mM CTC after the whole
CTC-FISH procedure. The optimal concentration was determined
to be 8 mM. It has been reported that vital staining with CTC
underestimates the number of active cells when combined with
the common FISH procedure and that microautoradiography (MAR)
combined with FISH (MAR-FISH) is superior for the detection
of active cells (
16). MAR-FISH is a useful technique which has
been successfully applied to activated sludge samples (
11);
however, MAR detects active cells by incorporating radioactively
labeled substrate. Utilization of these substrates is limited
in some laboratories; thus, in this study, CTC, a common and
easy-to-use vital stain, was chosen.
After CTC staining, the cells were fixed with paraformaldehyde (final concentration, 8%) at 4°C for 1 h. In an examination of fixation conditions, this condition gave the best results. A more rapid technique of fixation, using ethanol, was reported (18). However, if ethanol is used for CTC-FISH, CTC-formazan crystals will be dissolved and CTC-stained cells cannot be detected completely.
The fixed sample was centrifuged at 900 x g for 5 min at 4°C to remove paraformaldehyde, and the pellets were resuspended in 100 µl of PBS. A 10-µl sample of fixed cells was spotted in the hole of a polyester seal which was attached to an adhesive-coated glass slide (Matsunami Glass, Ltd., Osaka, Japan) and dried by a vacuum, according to the method described by Maruyama et al., for the quantification of cells (12). Bacterial cells in the hole were spread uniformly and can be quantified correctly and easily by microscopy.
The sample was coated by agarose, with a modification of the process described by Pernthaler et al. (19). Agarose (0.1%, Metaphor; Bioproducts, Rockland, ME) was dropped onto the dried sample, which was dried again at 35°C in a humid chamber, and the seal was peeled off the glass slide. Without this agarose coating, many of the CTC-formazan crystals inside the cells disappeared.
After 50 µl of 80% ethanol was dropped onto the dried cells, the ethanol was shaken off immediately, and the sample was kept at 35°C for 5 min in a humid chamber. Dehydration conditions were also examined. CTC-stained cells vanished completely after dehydration with an ethanol series (50, 80, and 100% ethanol) for 3 min each, which has often been used with the FISH technique (1). However, more than 90% of respiring cells were still detectable after dehydration with 80% ethanol if the ethanol was removed immediately. Without dehydration, more than 90% of respiring cells also were detected by CTC-FISH; however, Pseudomonas cells could not be detected selectively.
The dehydrated cells were hybridized. In this study, two kinds of Cy5-labeled oligonucleotide probes based on 16S rRNA sequences were used; one was the probe for the detection of P. putida, specifically designed by DuTeau et al. (5'-to-3' sequence, TTG CCA GTT TTG GAT GCA GT) (7), and the other was the probe for the detection of Pseudomonas spp., specifically designed by Gunasekera et al. (5'-to-3' sequence, GAT CCG GAC TAC GAT CGG TTT) (8). These hybridization and washing conditions were modified for the detection of CTC-stained cells by CTC-FISH. For the detection of P. putida specifically, hybridization buffer (0.9 M NaCl, 20 mM Tris-HCl [pH 7.5], and 0.01% sodium dodecyl sulfate [SDS]) containing 1 ng/µl probe for P. putida was prewarmed at 35°C in a chamber. After 20 µl of the prewarmed hybridization buffer was dropped onto the dehydrated cells, the cells were hybridized at 35°C for 2 h in the dark. After the buffer was shaken off, 50 µl of the prewarmed washing buffer (which is the same as the hybridization buffer) was applied, and the sample was kept at 37°C for 15 min in the dark and then rinsed with distilled water. The sample was counterstained with 50 µl of 4',6'-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI; final concentration, 1 µg/ml; Sigma) for the determination of total bacterial number.
For the detection of Pseudomonas spp. specifically, hybridization buffer containing 1 ng/µl probe for Pseudomonas spp. was used. The dehydrated cells were hybridized at 35°C for 1.5 h. These cells were rinsed with PBS, and the sample was counterstained with DAPI. Under the modified conditions, the specific detection of P. putida and of Pseudomonas spp. was achieved.
We also examined SDS concentrations in hybridization and washing buffers. SDS is one of the important elements for the specific detection of targeted cells by FISH (29). However, CTC-formazan crystals are easily dissolved in SDS solution. Removing the SDS completely failed to provide specific detection of Pseudomonas cells consistently, although it avoided the reduction of CTC-formazan crystals inside cells which occurs with SDS. Ultimately, 0.01% SDS enabled the detection of respiring cells and Pseudomonas cells simultaneously by CTC-FISH.
The cells were observed under UV excitation for viewing DAPI-stained cells (total bacteria), green excitation for CTC-stained cells (respiring cells), and red excitation for Cy5-labeled probe hybridized cells (Pseudomonas cells) on the same microscopic field, with an E400 epifluorescence microscope (Nikon). The following filter combinations were used: for UV excitation, UV-2A; for green excitation, G-2A; and for red excitation, CY5 HYQ. More than 1,000 cells under different microscopic field sites per sample were counted to determine bacterial numbers.

Discrimination of Pseudomonas spp. from other strains in milk.
In order to evaluate the specificity of CTC-FISH for
Pseudomonas spp.,
E. coli O157:H7 cells in the stationary phase were inoculated
as a negative control with
Pseudomonas spp. (
P. putida and
P. fluorescens) in milk.
E. coli O157:H7 is well-known as one of
the most dangerous bacteria for food-borne disease, and it has
been detected often in milk (
14).
Pseudomonas cells in the milk
sample were detected specifically with the probe for
Pseudomonas spp., and
E. coli O157:H7 cells were detected specifically with
fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled anti-
E. coli O157:H7 direct
antibody. For the detection of
E. coli O157:H7, 20 µl
of fluorescent antibody (FA) solution (4 ng/ml; Kirkegaard &
Perry Laboratories, Gaithersburg, MD) was spotted onto the sample
and samples were incubated at 37°C for 30 min in the dark
after the CTC-FISH washing process. The sample was counterstained
with DAPI, and each cell was observed under each excitation
as described above, combined with an FITC filter block (Nikon)
for the observation of cells stained with FA (
E. coli O157:H7)
under blue excitation.
Total bacteria (stained with DAPI), respiring bacteria (stained with CTC), Pseudomonas spp. (hybridized with a probe specific for Pseudomonas spp.), and E. coli O157:H7 (stained with FA) were quantified by microscopy on the same field with each excitation (Fig. 1A). Total bacteria, respiring cells, Pseudomonas spp., and E. coli O157:H7 were observed specifically under each excitation. By the combination of three images (Fig. 1B to D), the specific detection of respiring Pseudomonas spp. was achieved (Fig. 1E). In addition, respiring P. putida and E. coli O157:H7 cells were mixed at different ratios (P. putida:E. coli ratios of 10:0, 7:3, 5:5, 3:7, and 0:10; n = 15). The sum of the number of P. putida and E. coli O157:H7 cells inoculated for each sample is 106 cells/ml. It was confirmed that the targeted cells were detected at the same ratio observed in the initial mixture (Fig. 2) (R2 = 0.99).

Comparison of CTC-FISH counts with CFU as determined by the conventional plate counting method.
We attempted to detect cells in the stationary phase and in
the starved state by CTC-FISH, and the bacterial numbers determined
by CTC-FISH and those determined by the culture method were
compared, since
Pseudomonas spp. contaminating milk can exist
in several growth cycle phases. Standard methods agar, which
is recommended as a standard medium for the examination of dairy
products by the American Public Health Association, was used
to count the bacterial number.
P. putida cells in the stationary
phase or in the starved state were inoculated into milk. The
samples were diluted serially, and 0.1 ml of each diluted or
nondiluted sample was spread on the agar. After incubation at
30°C for 48 h, CFU were counted. The number of respiring
P. putida cells in the same milk samples was also determined
by CTC-FISH and was the same (in the stationary phase) or higher
(in the starved state) than the number of CFU on agar medium
(Table
1). CTC-FISH, then, seems better able to detect cells
in various growth phases, particularly cells in the stages that
are sometimes underestimated by culture methods.
View this table:
[in this window]
[in a new window]
|
TABLE 1. Comparison of the numbers of viable P. putida cells in milk as determined by CTC-FISH and the numbers of CFUs as determined by the conventional plate counting methoda
|

Discussion.
In this study, respiring
Pseudomonas spp. in milk were quantified
within 6 h by CTC-FISH. This method could be applied to other
active spoilage bacteria in milk through the use of suitable
rRNA-targeted probes. Peptide nucleic acid probes hybridize
in a shorter time than oligonucleotide probes (
26). CTC-FISH
with peptide nucleic acid probes may be possible and could simplify
further the rapid detection of specific bacterial contaminants
in food. In this study, the detection limit of CTC-FISH is 10
4 cells/ml by the use of the frame spotting method (
12). Combination
with concentration techniques, for example, filtration or immunomagnetic
separation, which has been described for the detection of bacteria
with a high recovery rate (
22,
25), should improve the limit.
In addition, epifluorescence microscopy is a major tool for
the direct detection of bacteria and was also used in this study.
However, epifluorescence microscopy is time and labor intensive,
and the criteria for microscopic visual counting are different
for different investigators (
10,
15). Automated enumeration
systems (
17,
20,
21) and flow cytometry (
9,
31) may be applicable
to future studies of CTC-FISH.

FOOTNOTES
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University, 1-6 Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan. Phone: 81-6-6879-8172. Fax: 81-6-6879-8174. E-mail:
nasu{at}phs.osaka-u.ac.jp.


REFERENCES
1 - Amann, R. I., L. Krumholz, and D. A. Stahl. 1990. Fluorescent-oligonucleotide probing of whole cells for determinative, phylogenetic, and environmental studies in microbiology. J. Bacteriol. 172:762-770.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
2 - Amann, R. I., W. Ludwing, and K. H. Schleifer. 1995. Phylogenetic identification and in situ detection of individual microbial cells without cultivation. Microbiol. Rev. 59:143-169.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
3 - Bhupathiraju, V. K., M. Hernandez, D. Landfear, and L. Alvarez-Cohen. 1999. Application of a tetrazolium dye as an indicator of viability in anaerobic bacteria. J. Microbiol. Methods 37:231-243.[CrossRef][Medline]
4 - Bouvier, T., and P. A. del Giorgio. 2003. Factors influencing the detection of bacterial cells using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH): a quantitative review of published reports. FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 44:3-15.
5 - Chen, L., R. M. Daniel, and T. Coolbear. 2003. Detection and impact of protease and lipase activities in milk and milk powders. Int. Dairy J. 13:255-275.[CrossRef]
6 - Cousin, M. A. 1982. Presence and activity of psychrotrophic microorganisms in milk and dairy products: a review. J. Food Prot. 45:172-207.
7 - DuTeau, N. M., J. D. Rogers, C. T. Bartholomay, and K. F. Reardon. 1998. Species-specific oligonucleotides for enumeration of Pseudomonas putida F1, Burkholderia sp. strain JS150, and Bacillus subtilis ATCC 7003 in biodegradation experiments. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 64:4994-4999.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
8 - Gunasekera, T. S., M. R. Dorsch, M. B. Slade, and D. A. Veal. 2003. Specific detection of Pseudomonas spp. in milk by fluorescence in situ hybridization using ribosomal RNA direct probes. J. Appl. Microbiol. 94:936-945.[CrossRef][Medline]
9 - Gunasekera, T. S., D. A. Veal., and P. V. Attfield. 2003. Potential for broad applications of flow cytometry and fluorescence techniques in microbiological and somatic cell analyses of milk. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 85:269-279.[CrossRef][Medline]
10 - Kirchman, D., J. Sigda, R. Kapuscinski, and R. Mitchell. 1982. Statistical analysis of the direct count method for enumerating bacteria. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 44:376-382.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
11 - Lee, M., P. H. Nielsen, K. H. Andreasen, S. Juretschko, J. L. Nielsen, K.-H. Schleifer, and M. Wagner. 1999. Combination of fluorescent in situ hybridization and microautoradiographya new tool for structure-function analyses in microbial ecology. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 65:1289-1297.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
12 - Maruyama, F., N. Yamaguchi, T. Kenzaka, K. Tani, and M. Nasu. 2004. Simplified sample preparation using frame spotting method for direct counting of total bacteria by fluorescence microscopy. J. Microbiol. Methods 59:427-431.[CrossRef][Medline]
13 - McIngvale, S. C., D. Elhanafi, and M. A. Drake. 2002. Optimization of reverse transcriptase PCR to detect viable Shiga-toxin-producing Escherichia coli. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 68:799-806.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
14 - Mead, P. S., and P. M. Griffin. 1998. Escherichia coli O157:H7. Lancet 352:1207-1212.[CrossRef][Medline]
15 - Nagata, T., T. Someya, T. Konda, M. Yamamoto, K. Morikawa, M. Fukui, N. Kuroda, K. Takahashi, S. Oh, M. Mori, S. Araki, and K. Kato. 1989. Intercalibration of the acridine orange direct count method of aquatic bacteria. Bull. Jpn. Soc. Microb. Ecol. 4:89-99.
16 - Nielsen, J. L., M. A. de Muro, and P. H. Nielsen. 2003. Evaluation of the redox dye 5-cyano-2,3-ditolyl-tetrazolium chloride for activity studies by simultaneous use of microautoradiography and florescence in situ hybridization. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69:641-643.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
17 - Ogawa, M., K. Tani, N. Yamaguchi, and M. Nasu. 2003. Development of multicolour digital image analysis system to enumerate actively respiring bacteria in natural river water. J. Appl. Microbiol. 95:120-128.[CrossRef][Medline]
18 - Ootsubo, M., T. Shimizu, R. Tanaka, T. Sawabe, K. Tajima, and Y. Ezura. 2003. Seven-hour fluorescence in situ hybridization technique for enumeration of Enterobacteriaceae in food and environmental water sample. J. Appl. Microbiol. 95:1182-1190.[CrossRef][Medline]
19 - Pernthaler, A., J. Pernthaler, M. Schattenhofer, and R. Amann. 2002. Identification of DNA-synthesizing bacterial cells in coastal North Sea plankton. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 68:5728-5736.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
20 - Pernthaler, J., A. Pernthaler, and R. Amann. 2003. Automated enumeration of groups of marine picoplankton after fluorescence in situ hybridization. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69:2631-2637.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
21 - Pyle, B. H., S. C. Broadaway, and G. A. McFeters. 1999. Sensitive detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in food and water by immunomagnetic separation and solid-phase laser cytometry. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 65:1966-1972.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
22 - Reinders, R. D., A. Barna, L. J. A. Lipman, and P. G. H. Bijker. 2002. Comparison of the sensitivity of manual and automated immunomagnetic separation methods for detection of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 in milk. J. Appl. Microbiol. 92:1015-1020.[CrossRef][Medline]
23 - Rodriguez, G. G., D. Phipps, K. Ishiguro, and H. F. Ridgway. 1992. Use of a fluorescent redox probe for direct visualization of active respiring bacteria. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 58:1801-1808.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
24 - Schaule, G., H.-C. Flemming, and H. F. Ridgway. 1993. Use of 5-cyano-2,3-ditolyl tetrazolium chloride for quantifying planktonic and sessile respiring bacteria in drinking water. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 59:3850-3857.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
25 - Skjerve, E., and Ø. Olsvik. 1991. Immunomagnetic separation of Salmonella from foods. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 14:11-17.[CrossRef][Medline]
26 - Stender, H., M. Fiandaca, J. J. Hyldig-Nielsen, and J. Coull. 2002. PNA for rapid microbiology. J. Microbiol. Methods 48:1-17.[CrossRef][Medline]
27 - Szabo, E. A., and B. M. Mackey. 1999. Detection of Salmonella enteritidis by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Int. J. Food Microbiol. 51:113-122.[CrossRef][Medline]
28 - Vanne, L., M. Karwoski, S. Karppinen, and A.-M. Sjöberg. 1996. HACCP-based food quality control and rapid detection methods for microorganisms. Food Control 7:263-276.[CrossRef]
29 - Wallner, G., R. Amann, and W. Beisker. 1993. Optimizing fluorescent in situ hybridization with rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes for flow cytometric identification of microorganisms. Cytometry 14:136-143.[CrossRef][Medline]
30 - Wilson, I. A. 1997. Inhibition and facilitation of nucleic acid amplification. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 63:3741-3751.[Medline]
31 - Yamaguchi, N., M. Sasada, M. Yamanaka, and M. Nasu. 2003. Rapid detection of respiring Escherichia coli O157:H7 in apple juice, milk, and ground beef by flow cytometry. Cytometry 54A:27-35.[CrossRef]
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2005, p. 2748-2752, Vol. 71, No. 5
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/AEM.71.5.2748-2752.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.