This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Marston, C. K.
Right arrow Articles by Popovic, T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Marston, C. K.
Right arrow Articles by Popovic, T.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Marston, C. K.
Right arrow Articles by Popovic, T.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 2005, p. 7778-7780, Vol. 71, No. 12
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.12.7778-7780.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Effects of Long-Term Storage on Plasmid Stability in Bacillus anthracis

Chung K. Marston,1* Alex R. Hoffmaster,1 Kathy E. Wilson,1 Sandra L. Bragg,1 Brian Plikaytis,1 Philip Brachman,3 Scott Johnson,1 Arnold F. Kaufmann,2 and Tanja Popovic1

Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases,1 Division of Emergency and Environmental Health Services, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333,2 Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 303223

Received 1 December 2004/ Accepted 2 August 2005

The plasmid profiles of 619 cultures of Bacillus anthracis which had been isolated and stored between 1954 and 1989 were analyzed using the Laboratory Response Network real-time PCR assay targeting a chromosomal marker and both virulence plasmids (pXO1 and pXO2). The cultures were stored at ambient temperature on tryptic soy agar slants overlaid with mineral oil. When data were stratified by decade, there was a decreasing linear trend in the proportion of strains containing both plasmids with increased storage time (P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in the proportion of strains containing only pXO1 or strains containing only pXO2 (P = 0.25), but there was a statistical interdependence between the two plasmids (P = 0.004). Loss of viability of B. anthracis cultures stored on agar slants is also discussed.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd., MS G34, Atlanta, GA 30333. Phone: (404) 639-4057. Fax: (404) 639-3023. E-mail: cdk5{at}cdc.gov.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 2005, p. 7778-7780, Vol. 71, No. 12
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.12.7778-7780.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Sue, D., Marston, C. K., Hoffmaster, A. R., Wilkins, P. P. (2007). Genetic Diversity in a Bacillus anthracis Historical Collection (1954 to 1988). J. Clin. Microbiol. 45: 1777-1782 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»