Single Cell Raman-Deuterium Isotope Probing for Drug Resistance of Elizabethkingia spp.

Nosocomial infection associated with Elizabethkingia spp. is an emerging clinical concern characterized by multi-drug resistance and severe clinical consequences particularly in immunocompromised individuals and infants. Efficient control of this infection demands quick and reliable methods to determine the right drugs for the treatment. In this study, E. meningoseptica ATCC 13253 and four clinical isolates of Elizabethkingia spp. obtained from China, were subjected to single cell Raman spectroscopy analysis coupling with deuterium probing (single cell Raman-DIP). The results demonstrated that single cell Raman-DIP could generate an antimicrobial susceptibility testing result for Elizabethkingia spp. colonies within 4 hours based on their metabolisms variations at single cell level, and the drug resistant spectra of Elizabethkingia spp. determined by single cell Raman-DIP were consistent with the classical MIC method. Meanwhile single cell Raman spectroscopy (single cell RS) was applied to analyze Raman spectra of Elizabethkingia spp., which were revealed that their ratios of nucleic acid/protein were lower than other gram-negative pathogens and isolates from different origins could be distinguished by their Raman fingerprint. The in vitro results confirmed that minocycline and levofloxacin are first-line antimicrobials for Elizabethkingia spp. infection.