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Decontamination by Persteril 36 may affect the reliability of DNA-based detection of biological warfare agents—short communication

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Abstract

Persteril 36 is a disinfectant with a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity. Because of its bactericidal, virucidal, fungicidal, and sporicidal effectiveness, it is used as a disinfectant against biological warfare agents in the emergency and army services. In case of an attack with potentially harmful biological agents, a person’s gear or afflicted skin is sprayed with a diluted solution of Persteril 36 as a precaution. Subsequently, the remains of the biological agents are analyzed. However, the question remains concerning whether DNA can be successfully analyzed from Persteril 36-treated dead bacterial cells. Spore-forming Bacillus subtilis and Gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Xanthomonas campestris were splattered on a camouflage suit and treated with 2 or 0.2 % Persteril 36. After the disinfectant vaporized, the bacterial DNA was extracted and quantified by real-time PCR. A sufficient amount of DNA was recovered for downstream analysis only in the case of spore-forming B. subtilis treated with a 0.2 % solution of Persteril 36. The bacterial DNA was almost completely destroyed in Gram-negative bacteria or after treatment with the more concentrated solution in B. subtilis. This phenomenon can lead to false-negative results during the identification of harmful microorganisms.

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Acknowledgments

This project was supported by the Czech Science Foundation, grant no. 14-36938G, and by the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic, grant VF20122015024.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forensic DNA Service, s.r.o., Janovskeho 18, Prague 7, 170 00, Czech Republic

    Jirina Josefiova & Daniel Vanek

  2. Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Albertov 6, Prague, 128 43, Czech Republic

    Martin Pospisek

  3. Biologicals s.r.o., Sramkova 315/10, 251 01, Ricany, Czech Republic

    Martin Pospisek

  4. 2nd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague, V Uvalu 84, Prague, 150 06, Czech Republic

    Daniel Vanek

  5. Nemocnice Na Bulovce, Institute of Legal Medicine, Budinova 2, Prague 8, 180 81, Czech Republic

    Daniel Vanek

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  1. Jirina Josefiova
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  2. Martin Pospisek
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  3. Daniel Vanek
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Correspondence to Daniel Vanek.

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Josefiova, J., Pospisek, M. & Vanek, D. Decontamination by Persteril 36 may affect the reliability of DNA-based detection of biological warfare agents—short communication. Folia Microbiol 61, 417–421 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12223-016-0451-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12223-016-0451-1

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