Application of Flow Cytometry to the Detection of Pathogenic Bacteria

Outbreaks of infections have emphasized the necessity for rapid and economic detection methods for pathogens in samples ranging from those of clinical origin to food products during production and retail storage, and increasingly, in environmental samples. Flow cytometry (FCM) allows the rapid acquisition of multi-parametric data regarding cell populations within fluidised samples. However, the application of FCM to pathogen detection depends on the availability of specific fluorescent probes such as antibodies and RNA probes capable of detecting and isolating pathogens from these diverse samples. A particular issue for FCM methodology is the ability to recover and discriminate bacteria from the sample matrix which may pose a major technical hurdle towards accurate and sensitive analysis. This review article focuses on detection of pathogens using FCM in samples originating from food, water, environmental and clinical sources and outlines the current state of the art and potential future applications.