09/29/2009
Celsis Analytical Services, a division of Celsis International plc, a global leader in rapid microbial detection solutions for industry, today introduced a new service of genetically based strain typing of organisms for microbial identification using rep-PCR technology. The new DiversiLab system, which is available from Celsis laboratories through a partnership with bioMérieux, is more accurate than current alternatives because it identifies organisms at the genetic level using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) to
amplify non-coding repetitive sequences interspersed throughout the bacterial genome.
Accuracy and timing of results are especially critical in today’s laboratory environment, as evidenced by the proposal of a new USP chapter, PF 35(1), <1113> Microbial Identification. This gives guidance for microbial identification and discusses genetic identifications, and is quickly becoming an industry expectation.
“Strain typing of bacterial and fungal organisms provides a more exact genetic identification, and can be used as a tool to map and build a library of a facility’s microbial organisms,” said Tina Sturgill, a microbiologist and head of the Celsis laboratory in St. Louis, Missouri. “The data generated by the system allows companies to track seasonal changes or the mutability of a facility’s indigenous microorganisms over time,” she added. “It’s a great benefit to environmental monitoring programs as well as for manufacturers like biotech firms that require the exact same strain of a microorganism be used to make a product.”
For more information about the strain typing system and how it works, visit www.celsis.com/rep-PCR.
