Evaluation of a microtiter system for identification of anaerobic bacteria

The Anaerobe Combo Panel (American MicroScan, Mahwah, N.J.) was evaluated for its ability to identify anaerobic bacteria. The frozen, 96-well panel utilizes 24 biochemical reactions and four antimicrobial agents for species identification. The Anaerobe Combo Panel was used to test 114 clinical isolates of strict anaerobes. Reactions were read after 48 h, and the results were compared with those obtained with the PRAS II system (Scott Laboratories, Inc., Fiskeville, R.I.). Discrepancies between the two systems were resolved by gas-liquid chromatography. With the Anaerobe Combo Panel, 84% of the organisms were able to grow, and 89% of these were correctly identified to genus level and 78% to species level. The Anaerobe Combo Panel was easy to inoculate and read, but some of the reactions were difficult to interpret, and not all of the derived codes were found in the code book.