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Review of processing and analytical methods for Francisella tularensis in soil and water

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Abstract

The etiological agent of tularemia, Francisella tularensis, is a resilient organism within the environment and can be acquired in many ways (infectious aerosols and dust, contaminated food and water, infected carcasses, and arthropod bites). However, isolating F. tularensis from environmental samples can be challenging due to its nutritionally fastidious and slow-growing nature. In order to determine the current state of the science regarding available processing and analytical methods for detection and recovery of F. tularensis from water and soil matrices, a review of the literature was conducted. During the review, analysis via culture, immunoassays, and genomic identification were the methods most commonly found for F. tularensis detection within environmental samples. Other methods included combined culture and genomic analysis for rapid quantification of viable microorganisms and use of one assay to identify multiple pathogens from a single sample. Gaps in the literature that were identified during this review suggest that further work to integrate culture and genomic identification would advance our ability to detect and to assess the viability of Francisella spp. The optimization of DNA extraction, whole genome amplification with inhibition-resistant polymerases, and multiagent microarray detection would also advance biothreat detection.

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The US Environmental Protection Agency, through its Office of Research and Development, funded and managed the literature review described herein under an Interagency Agreement with the Defense Technical Information Center through the Battelle/Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Defense Information and Analysis Center Contract No. SP0700-00-D-3180 Delivery Order 0729/Technical Area Task CB-11-0232. This document has been subjected to the Agency’s review and has been approved for publication. This report was generated using references (secondary data) that could not be evaluated for accuracy, precision, representativeness, completeness, or comparability and therefore no assurance can be made that the data extracted from these publications meet EPA’s stringent quality assurance requirement. The contents of this document reflect the views of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Agency. Mention of trade names or commercial products in this document or in the literature referenced in this document does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. US Environmental Protection Agency, National Homeland Security Research Center, 26 W. Martin Luther King Drive, MS NG16, Cincinnati, OH, 45268, USA

    Erin E. Silvestri, Eugene W. Rice & Frank W. Schaefer III

  2. Battelle Memorial Institute, 505 King Avenue, Columbus, OH, 43201, USA

    Sarah D. Perkins & Harry Stone

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  1. Erin E. Silvestri
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  2. Sarah D. Perkins
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  3. Eugene W. Rice
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  4. Harry Stone
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  5. Frank W. Schaefer III
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Correspondence to Erin E. Silvestri.

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Silvestri, E.E., Perkins, S.D., Rice, E.W. et al. Review of processing and analytical methods for Francisella tularensis in soil and water. Ann Microbiol 66, 77–89 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13213-015-1144-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13213-015-1144-8

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