Microcalorimetric study of the growth of Enterococcus faecalis, Klebsiella pneumoniae and their mixtures in an enriched culture medium

作者：Vazquez C; Lago N; Legido J L; Arias I; Casas L M^*; Mato M M

来源：Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, 2013, 113(3): 1415-1420.

DOI：10.1007/s10973-013-3287-9

• Microcalorimetry
• Bacteria
• Metabolism
• Enterococcus faecalis
• Klebsiella pneumoniae

In the last few years there has been a growing interest in microcalorimetric investigations of microbial processes. Microcalorimetry is a technique based on heat output of bacterial metabolism which can be applied to detect bacterial growth in a few hours. However, there are few studies that attempt to investigate the interactions between two or more bacteria. In this study, we researched the interaction relationship of Enterococcus faecalis and Klebsiella pneumoniae, which are important pathogens responsible for infections in humans. The measures were carried out using a Calvet microcalorimeter, that contains two stainless steel cells of approximately 10 cm(3) (reference and experimental). Experiments were carried out at concentration of 10(3) CFU mL(-1) and a constant temperature of 309.65 K. The differences in shape of the heat flow-time curves of E. faecalis and K. pneumoniae and their mixtures were compared. Curves of E. faecalis and K. pneumoniae and their mixtures were analyzed mathematically allowing to calculate thermokinetic parameters such as growth constant (k), generation time (G), detection time (t (d)) and the amount of heat released (Q). The results revealed that when E. faecalis and K. pneumoniae were put together in the same proportion, the growth character of E. faecalis was not present, due to the inhibitory effects of K. pneumoniae on E. faecalis. Microcalorimetric investigations of microbial interactions is possible and promising.

• 出版日期2013-9