Journal of Microbiology

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Evaluation of the Cell Growth of Mycobacteria Using Mycobacterium smegmatis mc2 155 as a Representative Species: Jorge A. Gonzalez-y-Merchand , Ruben Zaragoza-Contreras , Rosalina Guadarrama-Medina , Addy C. Helguera-Repetto , Sandra Rivera-Gutierrez , Jorge F. Cerna-Cortes , Leopoldo Santos-Argumedo , Robert A. Cox; J. Microbiol. 2012;50(3):419-425. Published online June 30, 2012; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-012-1556-0

Abstract: The study of the in vitro cell growth of mycobacteria still remains a fastidious, difficult, and time-consuming procedure. In addition, assessing mycobacterial growth in the laboratory is often complicated by cell aggregation and slow growth-rate. We now report that the use of a stainless steel spring in the culture led to an absence of large cell clumps, to a decrease of dead cells in the exponential phase and to growth of a more homogeneous population of large cells. We also report that flow cytometry is a rapid, simple and reliable approach to monitor mycobacterial cell growth and viability. Here, we monitored Mycobacterium smegmatis cellular growth by optical density, dry cell mass, and colony forming units; in addition, viability, cell size and granularity profiles were analyzed by flow cytometry, and cell morphology by electron microscopy. Cultures monitored by flow cytometry may lead to a better understanding of the physiology of mycobacteria. Moreover, this methodology may aid in characterizing the cell growth of other fastidious species of microorganisms.

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